TEN years ago, MEPs travelling to Strasbourg would often get stuck behind long lines of trucks, queuing up to cross the border between France and Germany.

Fortunately, those days of total gridlock are now just a distant memory. So what's made the crucial difference?

The simple answer is the European Single Market, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year. Since January 1, 1993, truck drivers have no longer had to present piles of paperwork each time they cross from one EU country to another. Indeed, not only in Strasbourg, but across the EU, most internal border posts are now entirely deserted.

The single market has brought down internal barriers to the free movement of people, goods, money and services. Over the last decade, this has given a huge economic stimulus to the EU. Latest figures from the European Commission show that the single market has increased EU income by £577 billion and created 2.5 million extra jobs.

Businesses have gained enormously. Scrapping border bureaucracy alone has cut costs by reducing delivery times and eliminating the need for 60 million customs clearance documents annually. In addition, a single EU-wide regulatory framework has replaced a large number of complex national laws, reducing red tape rather than adding to it.

Measures like these have opened up new trading opportunities for smaller businesses. A decade ago, they were very reluctant to try and penetrate continental export markets because of the prohibitive costs of complying with highly complex national regulations.

Consumers have also benefited from the single market They now enjoy a wider choice of higher quality goods and services and lower prices too. On average, national phone calls cost 50 per cent less than before 1993 and promotional airfares have fallen by over 40 per cent. Meanwhile, 15 million EU citizens have moved across borders to work or to enjoy their retirement

Although much has been done, there is still much more to do before the EU has a fully functioning single market. Member countries have yet to reach agreement, for example, on financial services, even though analysts estimate that a single market for the likes of pensions and insurance would boost the EU's GDP by an estimated £85 billion over the next 10 years.

By Gary Titley, Labour MEP for the North-west