Original scientific paper

EUROPEAN UNION - THE SITUATION AND PERSPECTIVES

Aleksandar Bogunović

Abstract

Opening of markets and economic cooperation of countries makes a sound assump-tion for growth of GDP and employment. Growth causes sectoral and regional imbalances for which there should be solutions provided by interventions of multilateral institutions and regional integrations. Reforms of multilateral institutions and regional integrations have a goal of correcting imbalances caused by market imperfections. This outcome is preferred to creation of partial defense mechanisms and creation of barriers for mobility of goods, services, capital and labor. Solutions of short-run problems should be suited within appropriate development frameworks with an emphasis on development and faster growth of less developed countries. This provokes interaction between the demand created by innovations and the demand by the growth of less developed markets. Support for this argument can be found in the EU where the presence of confl ict is constant among parts of traditional economic structure, social groups and completed processes with national and similar characteristics and the need for creation of new values stipulated by the modern economic development. Europe, compared to other parts of the world, is specifi c for its demographic move-ments. The union with 455 million inhabitants and GDP of $23000 per capita is great and sizeable market. Movements in structure of populations of less developed member states and potential newcomers (Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia) are identical. In demographic movements and the structure of populations of less developed member states migration motivation should not be looked at, but rather it should be looked at development differen-ces and all the problems that follow from such a situation (unemployment and low wages). Development, lowering barriers and other shapes of discrimination increases population mobility. The infl ow of people in the EU in the last 15 years is over 15 million people, mainly from the outside of European borders. Labor migrations in the European space are conditioned upon the speed of conversion from open and shadow unemployment into productive employment. Expected, relatively dynamic growth in less developed countries will become stronger, and along positive expectations softening of migration pressures will grow stronger too. Realization of freedom within the EU space is suitable for dispersion of economic contents and diminishing direct effects of economic activity concentrations. This development refl ects on lowering differences in living standards, compared to the differences in industry concentrations

Keywords

European union; demographic movements; migrations; unemployment

Hrčak ID:

8014

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/8014

Publication date:

27.2.2006.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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