European Integration, Industrial Growth and Structural Change

Abstract

Between 2000 and 2014, the EU experienced significant structural changes driven by events such as: the introduction of the euro, several waves of enlargement, increased globalization, major technology changes driven by automation and digitalization, and the economic crisis. The impacts of these events varied considerably across Member States and sectors. Considering the fact that industry is one of the driving forces of economic growth and development, the impact of EU integration upon the industrial sector of the member and partner countries is determined by major structural changes in the EU’s productive structure. Productivity gains or losses explain much of the development of productive structures. Decomposition analysis at the level of the Member States help to identify those countries that, in the past 15 years, saw gains in labor productivity and what countries managed to shift resources towards sectors with high productivity growth. Preliminary research results show that structural change seems to take place within the EU countries and even within the regions rather than between them, and between the large sectors rather than within them. Therefore, the main objective of the present article is to identify and highlight the structural changes registered by the European Union’s new member states.