Why do different European countries have different prime lending rates if they use the same currency?

Question

Why do different European countries like France and Netherlands have different primes when they are all on the Euro? Shouldn't this be set by a central authority for the currency?

Answer 1

“Prime lending rate” refers to an average of commercial lending rates available in the market, not to an interest rate set by a central bank. Banks in different countries will have different policies and appetites for risk, leading to differing rates. All eurozone countries do of course have the same central bank interest rates, since they have the same central bank.