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by makomk
1971 days ago
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Also, in practice the EU is arguably less of a single market than it appears to be on paper anyway. Different countries not only have different languages but also different regulations in a surprising number of areas, and shipping between EU states isn't particularly cheap or fast from what I've heard. |
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I don't see a good way around the language issue -- every developed country requires most consumer products to be described in the official language(s). (I see French and Spanish on "Made in USA" things, presumably so they can be sold easily in Canada and Mexico.) Medium and large manufacturers put multiple languages on the label, either all of them (e.g. Ikea) or some of them (e.g. my toothpaste is labelled for sale in Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark). Very small manufactures just stick a sticker over the default label, you see the same at the Chinese food shop and the Polish food shop -- that does increase costs.
The EU has a project to improve cross-border delivery, which I think is particularly motivated to improve the situation for individuals and small/medium businesses -- large businesses that move stuff by the lorryload aren't bothered by the borders. (e.g. "Amazon.de" has a distribution centre in Poland, and offers free delivery to Czechia, Denmark, Sweden etc if you spend €39, rather than the €29 for free delivery in Germany. Can an American business in California offer flat-rate delivery to the whole USA? I see e.g. UPS does, but I don't know if there are alternatives that undercut them for in-state or next-state delivery.)