According to the IMF, barriers to intra-EU trade are equivalent to a 44% tariff on goods and 110% on services.

Omissions

• The figure is contested: independent economists (CEPR/VoxEU, Bocconi's IEP) argue the 44% estimate 'does not hold' and question the methodology, while some citations round the goods figure to 45%. The MEP accurately attributes the figure to the IMF, but the estimate is not uncontested in the economics literature.
• The IMF estimate refers to 2020 trade cost data (published in the IMF's 2024 work), not to the exact session date of 2026-10-06.

Sources

• PrimaryInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) — 'Europe's Choice: Policies for Growth and Resilience'"Intra-EU trade barriers remain significant. Our estimates suggest that these barriers might be as high as a tariff equivalent of about 44 percent on average for goods trade... For services, these estimates barriers are even steeper, equivalent to a 110 percent tariff."
• PrimaryEuropean Central Bank — Economic Bulletin article 'What is the untapped potential of the EU Single Market?'"...tariff-equivalent level of barriers of around 115%. IMF (2024) estimates a tariff equivalent of around 110% for services. The difference can be traced..."