The field European and global development context refers to factors, circumstances, and indicators that describe Romania’s current geopolitical context and the economic framework in which its internal development processes are taking place. The factors are very diverse, from the political and economic stability of European countries, to the dynamics of foreign investment, the scale of trade, etc. Ten years after the onset of the 2008/2009 crisis, European Union economies are slowly recovering, even though developed countries from Europe or elsewhere have failed to return to the growth rates before the crisis. At the same time, the rise of emerging countries has triggered changes in geopolitics and has caused numerous problems for the world’s beacon states. All these processes need to be considered when evaluating Romania’s situation. [read more]
The field European and global development context can be labelled “experimental”, because it has not been systematically researched or coded in public statistics, as are fields like: Economy, Demography, Health, Education, etc. However, we believe that this field is essential in the project, for building a coherent image of processes and tendencies in global economy, and for identifying the major challenges that our country will need to solve in future years, through common policies with Member States.
In order to analyse these processes and tendencies, we have selected the following subfields: Macroeconomic stability and trade, Financial markets and foreign investment, Social and economic polarization in the EU.
Macroeconomic stability and trade
Financial markets and foreign investment
Social and economic polarization in the EU
The rise of interdependence between states, the fast pace of technological changes, the fluctuating rates on the financial markets and the hard-to-predict implications of political and social movements are factors that have determined the analysts to reevaluate the importance of macroeconomic stability for the continuity and success of development policies. Both at EU and global level, the indicators describing a country’s macroeconomic stability offer important data for evaluating the country’s capacity to support innovation and development efforts. [read more]
Trade intensity is a relevant indicator of an economy’s vitality and its degree of integration in global economy. In the European and global context that this field is evaluating, international trade is an important means of economic development. In a way, the extent of trade reflects the level of demand, a fundamental aspect in development. The indicators of this subfield reflect the share of extra- and intra-EU trade, as well as the share of a state’s imports and exports in the world trade. These indicators help us assess the competitiveness of a state’s trade at regional and global level.
This subfield is absolutely crucial for our aggregator because “financialization” is probably the most profound change in global economy. In the classical paradigm, money supported economy, and stimulated entrepreneurship, investments and innovation. Nowadays, the classical relationship between the two main forces of economy, industry and finances, has been reversed. Finances have a life of their own and follow their own logic: they no longer preponderantly stimulate productive economic activity, but rather generate money that cannot be found in real economic circuits. That is the reason why we have introduced this subfield. [read more]
Nowadays international financial markets have the highest degree of integration among economic sectors. For this reason, it is important to analyse the connectivity of national economy to the global market, as well as the multiplication effects that these capital flows can produce. One of the indicators of this subfield is Foreign direct investment in the EU 27. Besides analysing the quantity of capital flows that enter a market, it is important to conduct periodically an in-depth analysis of the rate of capital investment generating long-term growth (e.g. new manufacturing capabilities, new jobs). We have also introduced a series of secondary indicators that are meant to illustrate the multiplier effect in economy and the way Romanian economy can make use of foreign capital entries.
Regional disparities within the European Union have been slowly reduced by advancing integration policies, but the convergence tendencies have decreased in intensity with the onset of the economic crisis. Moreover, the (unequal and unconvincing) convergence between Member States has not translated directly into the convergence of development regions at subnational level. The impact of European funds or of the mix of the public policies at the level of each state are often discussed in relation to increasing social and economic polarization and income inequality among various European states and various categories of citizens within a European state. [read more]
The most prominent indicators of this subfield highlight some of the most serious problems currently faced by Member States: inequality of income and disparities in the economic development of the regions. In the context of an increase in income inequalities and the rise of poverty levels because of austerity measures, various European states have implemented a series of measures that focus on the minimum wage.
Statistics show that in 2014 in the EU the income of the population with the highest income (representing 20% of EU population) was 5.2 times higher than the income of the population with the lowest income (representing 20% of EU population). This ratio varied significantly among EU Member States, from 3.5 in the Czech Republic, to over 6.0% in Lithuania, Portugal, Latvia, Greece, Estonia, Spain and Bulgaria, reaching its highest in Romania, at 7.2. We believe that the way the European Union will approach the specificities of the countries in its periphery will represent a decisive indicator for the viability and coherence of the European development model. That is the reason why the indicators that express inequalities and the real dimension of economic dependency are essential for the aggregator.
It is competence that makes the difference!
„This project is co-financed from the European Social Fund through the Operational Programme Administrative Capacity 2014-2020“
The use of data on this site is in line with OGL-ROU-1.0
The content of the materials on this site does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EU.
Initiators are fully responsible for the correctness and coherence of the information presented here.
EN
Română