UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

9 . European Union
European Union
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, UK
Hugo Hollanders and Minna Kanerva
INTRODUCTION
A region in a protracted crisis
With the accession of Croatia in 2013, the European
Union’s membership swelled to 28 countries, representing
a combined population of 507.2 million, or 7.1% of the
global population (Table 9.1). The European Union (EU) is
expected to expand further: Albania Montenegro, Serbia, the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey are all
candidate countries that are in the process of integrating EU
legislation into their national legal systems, whereas Bosnia
and Herzegovina and Kosovo have the status of potential
candidates. 1 Between 2004 and 2013, GDP increased by
almost 47% in the 10 countries that had joined 2 the EU in
2004, compared to close to 20% for the ‘older’ EU15 countries.
1. See also Chapter 10 on Southeast Europe and go to:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/check-current-status/index_en.htm
2. The EU was founded in 1957 by six countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Denmark, Ireland and the UK joined in 1973,
Greece, Portugal and Spain in 1981 and Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. These
15 countries are known as the EU15. In 2004, ten more countries swelled the EU’s
ranks: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia and Slovenia. They were followed by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and by
Croatia in 2013.
Table 9.1: Population, GDP and unemployment rates in the EU, 2013
Population 2013
(million)
5-year GDP
growth rate
(PPP €, %)
GDP per capita
2013 (PPP €)
Unemployment rate
2013 (%)
5-year change in
unemployment rate
(%)
Unemployment rate,
persons below 25
years 2013 (%)
5-year change in
Unemployment rate
– persons below
25 years (%)
EU28 507.2 4.2 26 600 10.8 3.8 23.6 7.8
Austria 8.5 8.3 34 300 4.9 1.1 9.2 1.2
Belgium 11.2 10.4 31 400 8.4 1.4 23.7 5.7
Bulgaria 7.3 4.9 12 300 13.0 7.4 28.4 16.5
Croatia 4.3 -5.2 15 800 17.3 8.7 50.0 26.3
Cyprus 0.9 -1.5 24 300 15.9 12.2 38.9 29.9
Czech Rep. 10.5 3.4 21 600 7.0 2.6 18.9 9.0
Denmark 5.6 4.9 32 800 7.0 3.6 13.0 5.0
Estonia 1.3 7.9 19 200 8.6 3.1 18.7 6.7
Finland 5.4 -1.3 30 000 8.2 1.8 19.9 3.4
France 65.6 6.4 28 600 10.3 2.9 24.8 5.8
Germany 82.0 9.5 32 800 5.2 -2.2 7.8 -2.6
Greece 11.1 -21.0 19 300 27.5 19.7 58.3 36.4
Hungary 9.9 7.4 17 600 10.2 2.4 26.6 7.1
Ireland 4.6 3.9 34 700 13.1 6.7 26.8 13.5
Italy 59.7 -1.0 26 800 12.2 5.5 40.0 18.7
Latvia 2.0 2.4 17 100 11.9 4.2 23.2 9.6
Lithuania 3.0 9.8 19 200 11.8 6.0 21.9 8.6
Luxembourg 0.5 14.1 68 700 5.9 1.0 16.9 -0.4
Malta 0.4 16.3 23 600 6.4 0.4 13.0 1.3
Netherlands 16.8 -0.8 34 800 6.7 3.6 11.0 4.7
Poland 38.5 27.4 17 800 10.3 3.2 27.3 10.1
Portugal 10.5 -2.3 20 000 16.4 7.7 38.1 16.6
Romania 20.0 10.4 14 100 7.1 1.5 23.7 6.1
Slovakia 5.4 8.5 20 000 14.2 4.6 33.7 14.4
Slovenia 2.1 -3.9 21 800 10.1 5.7 21.6 11.2
Spain 46.7 -4.7 24 700 26.1 14.8 55.5 31.0
Sweden 9.6 7.9 34 000 8.0 1.8 23.6 3.4
UK 63.9 1.6 29 000 7.6 2.0 20.7 5.7
Chapter 9
Source: Eurostat
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