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Concerns about European prospects for competitiveness, jobs and growth are high on the European Union agenda and regulatory reform, both at national and EU levels, is widely recognised as a crucial tool for improving the performance of European companies. Despite the single market, selective sectoral regulatory reform and certain reforms at the national level, regulation in Europe still tends to discourage new entrants, impede new production methods and inhibit the exit of existing competitors. It often increases costs without providing compensatory benefits, reduces operational flexibility and distorts capital expenditure, creating obstacles to innovation. The authors in this book argue that regulatory reform can, more often than not, help improve the competitiveness of companies while generating net growth effects for the European Union as a whole.

In this second volume, the authors discuss the vertical issues involved in regulatory reform. The authors describe in detail the regulatory reforms which are needed or have been initiated in nine major industrial sectors, including automobiles, textiles and clothing, retail trade, chemicals, banking, road transport, telecoms, electricity and (scheduled) air transport.

In the companion volume, Regulatory Reform and Competitiveness in Europe, 1: Horizontal Issues, the authors address regulation and growth, and the regulatory burdens and failures in Europe. The book also deals with national competition policy, state aids, EU environmental policy, reforms in product markets, labour market reforms, the regulatory environment of small and new firms, and the current, insufficient, EU reforms to improve regulatory quality.