Hello, and welcome to our new blog.
Based in the UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), we are a team responsible for UK policy on core aspects of the European Union (EU) Single Market for goods and services.
We report to the department’s Ministers including our Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Lady Neville-Rolfe. Our roles include:
- Negotiating with our EU partners, and advising Ministers, on key policies to create and maintain the Single Market;
- Running the UK’s Single Market Centre, which provides practical advice and support on the Single Market to citizens, consumers and businesses;
- Thinking about the UK’s overall strategy towards the Single Market and
- Co-ordinating and advising on Government policy on state aid.
Through this blog we will make regular posts in these areas.
We will combine providing news about specific developments in Single Market policy with posts that reach out to our stakeholders and spark discussions so that we can benefit from your ideas and evidence. Our stakeholders are likely to be anyone with an interest in the EU Single Market - businesses, consumers, campaigners, academics, and many more beyond.
Engagement
With this in mind, we want to read and engage with comments below the line and on social media. Some of us have professional Twitter accounts with which we will link to the blog and take part in further online discussions about the Single Market (@statekate, @JesseBIS, @PhilJ_Earl). BIS Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Lady Neville-Rolfe (@LNevilleRolfe) is also a regular contributor on Twitter.
This blog will complement rather than replace the more traditional web pages you find on www.gov.uk about all aspects of government policy, and so you can expect our content to be relevant but also direct and engaging.
The context of Single Market regulation and governance
Finally, a note about wider EU reform. Single Market work generally falls within the field of competitiveness – one of the four areas where the Prime Minister has confirmed he wants change. This blog, because it focuses on Single Market regulation and governance, will not cover that wider agenda; however we will always refer to developments in the wider reform programme when necessary and relevant to the Single Market for goods and services.
Please do subscribe to the blog in order to receive updates. We look forward to the conversation.
Thank you! The BIS Single Market Team