The early 1990s marked a period of new-found optimism about the prospects for Europe, following disappointing economic performance on the continent during much of the 1980s. The key development was the 1992 project that would transform the European Community (EC) from a customs union arrangement into a fully integrated market in which “the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured.” From a European perspective, the prospect of an integrated market that would surpass the U.S. economy in size proved exciting to businesses and governments alike, and it contributed to an investment boom in Europe.