Trade barriers between members prevent the European Union from recording the economic development of America in the past thirty years, according to a new study by the International Monetary Fund.

The study states that in a direct comparison, the purchasing power of Europeans is 72 percent of that of Americans. The analyzes showed that the difference would be only 8 percent if Europe had an equal productivity development.

Alfred Kamer of the IMF's European Department explains that productivity in Europe is growing more slowly than in America, even though the two markets are roughly equal in size. He sees the problem in the more pronounced fragmentation in Europe and the trade barriers between the 27 members, which are absent or significantly less pronounced among the 50 states of the United States.

- Due to fragmentation, companies operate on national markets, instead of the larger common European market. They do not research the scale of access to such a large market at all, and the scale is important - says Kamer.

The analyzes showed that if the barriers between EU members were lowered to the level of the federal states in the USA, European productivity would increase by 7 percent.

The second major problem in Europe is the absence of a unified market for capital flows, due to which companies in the EU lag behind in financing, compared to those in the United States, and are forced to rely on loans from banks. It reflects particularly badly on technology companies, whose main value is intellectual property and ideas. Such companies seek financing from venture capital firms, but they too are underdeveloped in Europe and focus on national markets to avoid the complexities of cross-border regulations.

For the past ten years, the European Union has been working to remove various obstacles to the flow of capital. The initiative has been strengthened in the past year, but officials and diplomats do not believe that progress can be made quickly.

Barriers on the labor market are indicated as the third important factor that slows down the development of productivity in Europe. Workers from the 27 EU member states find it more difficult to move from country to country, compared to American workers, who can find work in another federal state much more easily. It is also a problem that in Europe it is more difficult for workers to find a home in another member state, regardless of whether they buy or rent it.

- The costs in Europe are eight times higher - notes Kamer.

He, however, believes that these are problems that can be overcome with measures and laws.

- The good news is that the solutions to many of these problems are in the hands of legislators - concludes Alfred Kamer from the European Department of the IMF.