Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs
Study by: Austrian Institute of Economic Research
The biggest reform step to date in the liberalisation and deepening of the EU internal market for services was taken with
the EU Services Directive. Its implementation intended to provide a clear impetus for the removal of existing obstacles to
the free movement of services, the freedom of establishment of services providers and for administrative simplification. The
project quantifies the Directive's effects on Austrian and EU services trade and welfare but also highlights untapped potentials
due to remaining administrative barriers and existing weaknesses in the implementation and enforcement of the Single Market
rules. The estimation relies on a structural gravity model estimated on a disaggregated industry level.
Research group:Industrial, Innovation and International Economics