Definition of "common market" [common market]

• An economic unit, typically formed of nations, intended to eliminate or markedly reduce trade barriers among its members. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "These projects served the immediate needs of the individual republics but created enormous inefficiencies in the Yugoslav economy as a whole.14 As Europe made progress toward a common market and monetary union, Yugoslavia was steadily breaking down into ministates, each prepared to use protectionist policies to serve local interests against the Yugoslav republic across its border."