THIS week celebrates the 20th anniversary of the single market.

For two decades Britain has been able to access the world’s largest free trade area, comprising today of over 440 million consumers in addition to our own domestic market.

The single market now accounts for over 20 per cent of the world’s imports and exports despite only having 7 per cent of the population.

Government figures show that 3.5 million jobs are dependent on our trade with the EU. That’s one in 10.

So at this juncture, how do we use the single market to secure the economic growth Europe desperately needs?

There are many aspects of the single market that have yet to be unlocked.

Services and telecoms for example. It is estimated that unlocking these barriers to trade could result in a seven per cent per capita increase in income in Britain.

As Europe’s second largest economy and third largest country by population, we can have a pivotal say on the future of the single market.

So let us take this chance to enhance our influence on it.

SIR GRAHAM WATSON, MEP for South West