The differences between an operating lease and a capital lease are quite small despite the rather large impact the difference in accounting can have on the balance sheet and economic earnings of the business.
If internal capital markets function well within integrated markets, reducing remaining inconsistencies and differences in the regulatory framework of member states and coordinating supervision within the EU should be a priority.
As product costs include mainly capital and labour, and the capital costs for companies are nearly the same in every country, the real differences are in wages.