The data point to a higher degree of competition in the manufacturing sector: Mark-ups, an indicator of the pricing power of firms, have gone down following the launch of the common market. By contrast, mark-ups on services have stayed high in Germany, higher even than in many other European countries.
Opening up closed professions, cutting red tape and improving access to financing for nascent digital firms would serve to improve the functioning of the services sector. But while there is room for improvement in Germany especially when it comes to the efficiency of its services sector, the fact is that European mark-ups are elevated in general, compared to the US, for example.