Benelux, Economy

Strategic consultation on the internal market and the economy: towards a barrier-free market

30 Sep. 2025

On September 30, under the Luxembourg presidency, a strategic consultation took place between the Directors-General for Economic Affairs of the Benelux countries. The consultation focused on the continued removal of obstacles within the Benelux internal market, with particular attention to SMEs, retail, professional qualifications, and diploma recognition.

The meeting was chaired by Steve Fritz, Director-General at the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, and opened by Frans Weekers, Secretary-General of the Benelux: “Our three small and open economies can only prosper if we align rules and lower administrative burdens, especially for SMEs.”

This strategic consultation fits perfectly within the internal market strategy published by the European Commission in June.
The strategy focuses on eliminating the ten most harmful obstacles reported by businesses, such as limited recognition of professional qualifications, fragmented packaging rules, and unjustified territorial supply constraints—topics on which the Benelux countries are actively engaged.

The Directors-General for Economic Affairs of the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on territorial supply constraints, key performance indicators for the single market, and collaboration around small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industries (SMIs). This latter cooperation specifically targets online identity, business transfers, cross-border public procurement, and vocational training and diploma recognition.