The proposals range from making it easier to register a car in another country to creating an EU professional ID card to help people do business across borders.
The list will be subjected to a four-month public debate in the hope that more European citizens will get involved and voice their opinions.
European leaders must combat the "fatigue" the average person feels about the single market. "’The single market is more and more necessary and less and less popular. How can you accept that?" said Michel Barnier, the EU's internal market commissioner.
Confidence in European integration has been eroded by the financial crisis, the Commission says. Much of the economic growth and millions of jobs created between 1992 and 2006 have been wiped out. Production has been reset to 1990 levels, and the unemployment rate is hovering stubbornly at around 10%.
Moreover, in recent months, the sovereign debt crisis has fuelled the spread of nationalism and raised questions about the future of the euro.
"The Single Market Act is a crucial test case for the Commission to deliver tangible benefits to consumers," said Monique Goyens, director-general of the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC).
The 50 ideas include:
- Updated rules to protect holidaymakers if their travel provider goes bust.
- New e-commerce rules so creators and artists can sell their work throughout Europe with a one-stop shop for authorisation.
- Mediation or arbitration to resolve cross-border disputes.
- A new system for the electronic exchange of information to help workers transfer their social security benefits if they move.
- For small- and medium-size businesses, simpler accounting rules, better access to public contracts, and maybe even a common tax base for businesses operating cross-border.
"This market, if it functions well, is a chance to reconstruct and rediscover competitiveness and growth," Barnier said.
But the proposals drew harsh criticism from some business advocates.
The European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME) called the list a "mixed bag of old news and half-baked proposals, with some occasional good ideas thrown in," rather than a "strategy capable of inspiring the relaunch of the internal market".
The Single Market Act emerged from a report by former Italian Commissioner Mario Monti, published in May. In it, he argued, "there is now a window of opportunity to bring back the political focus of the single market".
Monti was travelling in the United States on Wednesday and was not immediately available for comment.
The list of proposals has been translated into 23 languages for distribution to member states. On 9 November, the European Parliament will host a public forum on the Single Market.
