Non-tariff measures in intra-EU trade: sectoral and country incidence

The principle of free movement of goods is an essential dimension of European economic integration. However, European Union (EU) member countries insistently resort to the use of nontariff measures to protect their domestic markets from competition. This paper aims to highlight the potential importance of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in intra-EU trade based upon an inventory of infringements procedures against the free movement of goods within the EU market. The data was collected from several reports by European Commission and covers 512 infringement proceedings over the period 1982 to 2004. Frequencies of NTMs are presented broken down by country and sector of activity in order to illustrate their incidence. Furthermore, we apply Pavitt sectoral taxonomy as a yardstick for describing the data. Our analysis suggests that the importance of NTMs in intra-EU trade varies considerably across countries and sectors. Moreover, it seems to indicate that NTMs have higher incidence in scale intensive and science based sectors, instead of more traditional sectors. Finally, the study justifies additional, more sophisticated work to understand their determinants.