Structural transformations of the EU industrial sector

Abstract

The issue of industrial policy and industrial problems is one of the most controversial in the European academic community. Even today, we see a lack of theoretical basis for decision-making on industrial policy issues. The main purpose of the publication is to assess the contribution of industry to the socio-economic development of the EU and its member states, as well as to the dynamic structural changes that took place during 2000-2019. To achieve the article’s goal, the author uses such indicators as the share of the industrial sector in the generation of gross value added, employment, labor productivity, and exports/imports. The article reveals a general trend to increase in the share of the services sector in the generation of gross value added for the EU-28 and to decrease in the share of the industrial sector. It is established that industry remains an important sector for the EU economy, and for the EU-28, it provides almost 20% of gross value added and more than 70% of total exports, and accounts for about 15% of the employed population. For each of the EU countries, the socio-economic contribution of industry is different - for Central and Eastern Europe, it is more important in the generation of gross value added and employment than for the EU founder countries of the euro area (the EU-15 group). It is found that labor productivity in the EU-15 is higher than in other countries. Growing labor productivity is typical for Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, and Great Britain, while lower productivity - for such CEE countries as Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, and Latvia. At the same time, growth rates of all industrial indicators in the latter countries is much higher than in the EU-15. The author considers the new EU industrial policy and various problems of the industrial sector in the EU. The study was carried out on the statistical basis of the European Commission using the methodology of Polish scientists of the Warsaw School of Economics to study the new industrial policy (Krzysztof Falkowski, Adam A. Ambroziak 2015).