The European Commission will on Tuesday unveil what may be the biggest shake-up in the European Union's internal market since the first phase of the project was completed in 1993

The Brussels body will present proposals intended to liberalise about 50 per cent of the EU's economy by freeing up the market for cross-border services. The measure will need to be backed by EU governments and the European parliament, which means its approval is impossible until after European elections in June, but the Commission is hoping to set the agenda with its plan. The service industry, rather than traditional sectors such as manufacturing, now accounts for most EU economic activity, but much European liberalisation to date has focused on traded goods and breaking up monopolies over utilities. The proposal is aimed at diverse sub-sectors such as leisure and information-technology services, medicine and legal and fiscal advice and employment agencies and construction. It steers clear of some areas in the service sector that have already been addressed by recent EU legislation, such as financial services, transport and telecoms.