The first major revision of the Treaty of Rome, the Single European Act (SEA) represented a push for a single currency and European Central Bank. It advocated accelerated integration of European states, and deepened a trend of dealing with provinces, as opposed to the states they belonged to. However, it did not deal with the possibility of military or national integration.
There was a tremendous amount of discontent among EU members in the 1980s. Leaders from the business and political worlds were eager to harmonize laws between countries and resolve policy discrepancies. A commission formed to analyze whether a common market was possible in Europe, and further, what steps would need to be taken to achieve that goal. The commission put forth the proposals that became the Single European Act.
The goal was to remove remaining barriers between countries, increase harmonization, thus increasing the competitiveness of European countries.
The act went into effect in 1987.
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