An Evaluation of the Implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy

Abstract

Abstract Subject and purpose of work: A quantitative measurement of the implementation of the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy, an assessment of the degree of implementation of the strategy objectives for the individual EU-27 countries, and a ranking of countries in terms of the implementation of the strategy objectives were carried out. Materials and methods: The empirical analysis used EUROSTAT statistics covering the values of the basic indicators of the Europe 2020 strategy in the five main areas of development. The TOPSIS linear ordering method was used. For each country, a synthetic measure was established to express the level of achievement of the objectives of the strategy. On the basis of the value of the synthetic measure, a ranking of the countries was created in terms of the degree of the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy objectives. A ECONOMIC AND REGIONAL STUDIES STUDIA EKONOMICZNE I REGIONALNE ISSN 2083-3725 Volume 14, No. 2, 2021 ECREG STUDIES Results: Vol. 14, No. 2, 2021 www.ers.edu.pl PDF OPEN ACCESS eISSN 2451-182X quantitative approach was adopted in order to compare the effects of implementing the strategy assumptions. Groups of countries with a similar level of strategy implementation were identified. Conclusions: The research confirmed the existence of a significant diversification of the results of implementing the strategy objectives in the EU-27 countries. The differences were particularly visible between the highly developed Western European countries and the South European countries, severely weakened by the economic crisis of 2008–2009 and the recession of 2012–2013. The values of the synthetic measure allowed to determine the degree of the implementation of the objectives of the strategy and to create a ranking of the EU-27 countries. The adopted approach made it possible to compare the obtained classification of the Member States into groups with a similar level of achievement of the objectives of the strategy and to define measurable effects of the implementation of the “Europe 2020” strategic plan.