The world’s biggest sperm bank has warned the EU that access to donor sperm must be improved to reinvigorate childbirth rates amid the continent’s slump in population growth.

Sperm banks across Europe have closed after the enforcement of new EU regulations on staffing levels, executives at the Danish firm Cryos International told European commission officials in a private meeting.

Some member states’ insistence on making the identity of donors traceable was cited as a further obstacle to access, released minutes reveal. The executives also raised the 2011 decision by the Danish courts to treat sperm as a “good” liable to VAT. Donor sperm is subject to as much as 25% VAT in some EU countries.

“According to Cryos, the demand has increased by around 500% over recent years, but only 10% of those who need access to medical treatment with donated gametes are receiving it,” the minutes record. “They noted that population growth in the EU has slowed down and that it is a priority that the rate of childbirth be increased; this objective would be supported by increasing access to donor sperm.”

The 10 fastest-shrinking countries in the world in terms of population are in central and eastern Europe, according to UN projections.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, estimates that only the populations of Ireland, France, Norway and Britain will rise by 2050 without migration, with the rest of the EU in decline.

Cryos, the largest company of its kind in the world, which says it supplies sperm to women in all EU member states and beyond, said the requirement that sperm banks employ dedicated staff to deal with EU paperwork was proving a burden too far for many.

The different legislative approaches by member states was also making life difficult for banks and stemming sperm supply, the company said.

The minutes of the meeting, held last September, say: “They noted that many sperm banks closed down after the legislation was adopted ... In the view of Cryos, the EU should consider the demand and allow an open single market for sperm.

“Cryos stated that it was already difficult to recruit adequate numbers of donors but that rules put in place by regulators, eg the dropping of donor anonymity in some member states, had made this situation worse.

“At least one member state was reported as not allowing distribution of sperm by Cryos on the basis that they have both anonymous and non-anonymous donors.

“They state that other member states ban the import of gametes to their country from Denmark, even though the EU legislation defines this as ‘distribution’ (ie from a tissue establishment to an organisation responsible for human application) rather than ‘import’.”

The market for sperm banks is expected to grow by more than 4% by 2021. Cryos told the EU officials: “Access to [non-partner] donated sperm is the key challenge in Europe.”