The European Commission regularly monitors and analyses the functioning of the EU single market for services. This page contains key economic reports and studies which inform the Commission's policies in this area.
On 28 October 2015, the Commission presented a new single market strategy to deliver a deeper and fairer single market. The strategy includes a number of actions to further develop the single market for services. The economic analysis below supports this strategy
The economic analysis for the single market strategy builds on the findings of a 2012 study on the impact of the services directive. The study found that potential benefits had not yet fully been captured, and that more ambitious implementation of the services directive could yield 1.8% EU GDP growth.
A 2014 update of this study concluded that of the 1.8% EU GDP growth potential identified, national services reforms carried out from 2012-2014 would yield no more than 0.1% EU GDP growth.
This 2014 report by the IMF also looks at the impact of the services directive and potential output and employment gains from further liberalisation of services.
The Commission has carried out further work on the impact of regulation in different service sectors
More broadly, economic analysis is also available on the costs of not taking common policy action at a European level ('non-Europe')
Regulation in the services sector has wider consequences for industry
Between December 2017 and April 2019 the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service, carried out a number of items of analysis in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. The analysis covers the role of the EU in global manufacturing value chains, EU single market integration and the formation of European value chains, work on restrictive service regulation and its economic impacts (with a focus on retail), and the recent evolution of firm mark-ups in the EU.
Economic analysis of European competitiveness and integration
This report, and the accompanying studies, provide an in-depth analysis of the state of integration and competitiveness, and their main drivers in the EU and its Member States.
This report replaces the Single market integration report.
This 2016 report looks at the attractiveness of EU FDI across sectors and countries.
This study aims to identify the levers to unlock the clean industry sector in the EU. Clean industries are specific sectors or segments within the economy that are directly responsible for supplying technologies, products and services that have measurable environmental benefits in terms of their abilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve both energy and resource efficiency. The study will feed into the Commission’s Energy Union Research, Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy (EURICS).
Identifying levers to unlock clean industry: summary report and background report
