Structural reforms and the benefits of the enlarged EU internal market: still much to be gained

In the light of recent calls for additional structural reforms in Europe, this article looks at the role that a reduction of remaining barriers for integration and competition in the EU internal market can play in this context. This article presents new estimates of the likely impact of product market reform on labour productivity in old and new EU member countries, with a particular focus on network industries, professional services and retail trade. These estimates reveal that labour productivity could be boosted by an average of 10% over a time horizon of 10 years, in reward for a reform agenda that would align the stringency of anti-competitive regulation in services sectors to European best practice across all countries.