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