The 7th Bundesbank-IAW Lecture on European Economic Integration was held on 11 July 2022 by Professor Thierry Mayer from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo). Under the heading "The United States of Europe", Professor Mayer asked to what extent the EU is already a space without borders. In fact, the analysis based on so-called gravity models shows that trade barriers within the EU hardly exist any more. Whether a supplier is based in Lorraine, Luxembourg or Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, is no longer relevant. At the same time, integration has increased considerably in the last 15 years. However, the welfare gains from domestic trade are unevenly distributed. Above all, the Central and Eastern European countries have gained. For example, consumer welfare in Hungary is 15% higher every year than it would be without the EU.
Studie des ifo Instituts gemeinsam mit dem IAW im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Kurzfassung, Januar 2015
Studie des ifo Instituts gemeinsam mit dem IAW im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ), Langfassung, Januar 2015
