{
  "title": "Europe’s National-Level Structural Reform Priorities",
  "publication": "IMF Working Papers, May 29, 2025",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/05/28/europes-national-level-structural-reform-priorities-567269",
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  "summary": "Europe has a large and persistent per capita income gap with the United States. Deficiencies in total factor productivity, labor utilization, and capital intensity all play a role.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Summary and central finding",
      "content": "- Europe has a large and persistent per capita income gap with the United States.\n- Deficiencies in total factor productivity, labor utilization, and capital intensity all play a role.\n- Deeper intra-Europe integration is one key element toward closing these gaps, but remaining structural domestic policy gaps in growth-friendly regulatory settings highlight the scope for complementary national-level action.\n- Successful implementation of the compiled national reform priorities could entail sizeable medium-term gains of around 5, 7 and 9 percent for advanced European, Central Eastern and Southeastern European, and Western Balkan economies, respectively."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Objective and scope of the paper",
      "content": "- Compiles IMF staff’s structural policy priorities for European countries to lift output over the medium term.\n- Reviews key implementation challenges to those national reforms.\n- Discusses complementarities with EU-level efforts."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Main drivers of Europe–U.S. per capita income gap",
      "content": "- Total factor productivity deficiencies.\n- Labor utilization shortfalls.\n- Lower capital intensity."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy focus areas highlighted",
      "content": "- Growth-friendly regulatory settings at the national level.\n- Complementary domestic reforms to deepen integration benefits from intra-Europe initiatives.\n- Structural policies spanning capital markets, financial markets, human capital, labor and labor markets, macrostructural analysis, revenue performance assessment, and tax gap mitigation."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Implementation challenges",
      "content": "- Long-standing political economy obstacles to reform.\n- In some cases, technical obstacles to reform.\n- Need to address political feasibility alongside technical design."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Expected medium-term impact (country groups)",
      "content": "- Advanced European economies: around 5 percent medium-term gain.\n- Central Eastern and Southeastern European economies: around 7 percent medium-term gain.\n- Western Balkan economies: around 9 percent medium-term gain."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Keywords and themes emphasized",
      "content": "- business regulations\n- Capital markets\n- Europe, Europe integration\n- governance\n- human capital\n- innovation\n- labor markets\n- political feasibility\n- potential output\n- product market reforms\n- Productivity\n- reform priorities in Europe\n- Structural policies\n- structural reforms\n- Tax gap\n\nIMF Working Papers — “Europe’s National-Level Structural Reform Priorities”\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- Working Paper\n  - Working Paper (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Working Paper (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/05/28/europes-national-level-structural-reform-priorities-567269"
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    "Authors: Nina Budina, Oyun Erdene Adilbish, Diego A. Cerdeiro, Romain A Duval, Balázs Égert, Dmitriy Kovtun, Anh Thi Ngoc Nguyen, Michelle Tejada",
    "Published: May 29, 2025",
    "Series: IMF Working Papers",
    "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229011877.001",
    "Europe has a large and persistent per capita income gap with the United States.",
    "Deficiencies in total factor productivity, labor utilization, and capital intensity all play a role.",
    "Deeper intra-Europe integration is one key element toward closing these gaps, but remaining structural domestic policy gaps in growth-friendly regulatory settings highlight the scope for complementary national-level action.",
    "Successful implementation of the compiled national reform priorities could entail sizeable medium-term gains of around 5, 7 and 9 percent for advanced European, Central Eastern and Southeastern European, and Western Balkan economies, respectively.",
    "Compiles IMF staff’s structural policy priorities for European countries to lift output over the medium term.",
    "Reviews key implementation challenges to those national reforms.",
    "Discusses complementarities with EU-level efforts.",
    "Total factor productivity deficiencies.",
    "Labor utilization shortfalls.",
    "Lower capital intensity.",
    "Growth-friendly regulatory settings at the national level.",
    "Complementary domestic reforms to deepen integration benefits from intra-Europe initiatives.",
    "Structural policies spanning capital markets, financial markets, human capital, labor and labor markets, macrostructural analysis, revenue performance assessment, and tax gap mitigation.",
    "Long-standing political economy obstacles to reform.",
    "In some cases, technical obstacles to reform.",
    "Need to address political feasibility alongside technical design.",
    "Advanced European economies: around 5 percent medium-term gain.",
    "Central Eastern and Southeastern European economies: around 7 percent medium-term gain.",
    "Western Balkan economies: around 9 percent medium-term gain.",
    "business regulations",
    "Capital markets",
    "Europe, Europe integration",
    "governance",
    "human capital",
    "innovation",
    "labor markets",
    "political feasibility",
    "potential output",
    "product market reforms",
    "Productivity",
    "reform priorities in Europe",
    "Structural policies",
    "structural reforms",
    "Tax gap",
    "**Working Paper**"
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