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The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome
Treaty of Rome

The Treaties of Rome are two of the treaties of the European Union signed on March 25 1957. Both treaties were signed by Inner Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany....
. The Act set the European Community
European Community

The European Community is one of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union....
 an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation
European political cooperation

The European Political Cooperation was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the Maastricht Treaty ....
, the forerunner of the European Union
European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
's Common Foreign and Security Policy
Common Foreign and Security Policy

The Common Foreign and Security Policy is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions....
. It was signed at Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
 on 17 February 1986, and at The Hague
The Hague

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,904 and an area of approximately 100 km?....
 on 28 February 1986. It came into effect on 1 July 1987, under the Delors Commission
Delors Commission

The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the 8th President of the European Commission, over the Commission of the European Communities ....
.

Act's signing grew from the discontent among European Community
European Community

The European Community is one of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union....
 members in the 1980s about the de facto lack of free trade between them.






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The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome
Treaty of Rome

The Treaties of Rome are two of the treaties of the European Union signed on March 25 1957. Both treaties were signed by Inner Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany....
. The Act set the European Community
European Community

The European Community is one of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union....
 an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation
European political cooperation

The European Political Cooperation was introduced in 1970 and was the synonym for European Union foreign policy coordination until it was superseded by the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the Maastricht Treaty ....
, the forerunner of the European Union
European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
's Common Foreign and Security Policy
Common Foreign and Security Policy

The Common Foreign and Security Policy is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions....
. It was signed at Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
 on 17 February 1986, and at The Hague
The Hague

The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,904 and an area of approximately 100 km?....
 on 28 February 1986. It came into effect on 1 July 1987, under the Delors Commission
Delors Commission

The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the 8th President of the European Commission, over the Commission of the European Communities ....
.

Background

The Act's signing grew from the discontent among European Community
European Community

The European Community is one of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union....
 members in the 1980s about the de facto lack of free trade between them. Leaders from business and politics wanted to harmonise laws between countries and resolve policy discrepancies. A committee to analyse whether a common market was possible and what steps would be needed drew up proposals that became the Single European Act.

The SEA was signed in December 1985 on the basis of a political agreement reached in the Luxembourg European Council on 3 December 1985.

Overview

A core element of the SEA was to create a Single Market within the EU by 1992, a date by which, it was hoped, the legislative reforms seen necessary would have been completed. In order to make this objective possible the SEA reformed the legislative process by introducing the Consultation procedure
Consultation procedure

The Consultation procedure is one of the European Union Law#Legislative procedures of the European Community, the 1st of the three pillars of the European Union....
 and by extending Qualified Majority Voting to new areas. Measures which were hoped to shorten the previously time consuming legislative process. In doing so the SEA intended to remove remaining barriers between countries, increase harmonisation and increase the competitiveness of European countries.

Ratification

The SEA was subject to two referendums. One in Denmark
Danish Single European Act referendum, 1986

The Danish Single European Act referendum of 1986 was a non-binding referendum held in Denmark on February 27, 1986. 75.4 % of eligible Danes turned out to vote in the referendum, with 56.2 % voting in favour and 43.8 % voting against....
 after the Danish parliament rejected the draft treaty, and one in Ireland
Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted the state to ratify the Single European Act. It was effected by the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1987, which was approved by referendum on 26 May 1987 and signed into law on the 22 June of the same year....
 after the Irish Supreme Court ruled - in Crotty v. An Taoiseach
Crotty v. An Taoiseach

Crotty v. An Taoiseach was a legal action taken in 1987 in Ireland by Raymond Crotty, historian and social scientist, against the Government of Ireland....
 - that the Irish Constitution would have to be amended before the state could ratify the treaty.

External links

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