Open AccessStructural Heterogeneity Between EU 15 and 12 New EU Members – the Obstacle to Lisbon Strategy Implementation?
Author(s) -
Magdalena Olczyk
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
equilibrium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2353-3293
pISSN - 1689-765X
DOI - 10.12775/equil.2014.023
Subject(s) - lisbon strategy , cohesion (chemistry) , obstacle , regional science , diversity (politics) , member states , eu countries , indicator value , performance indicator , political science , geography , european union , business , international trade , marketing , ecology , chemistry , organic chemistry , law , biology
The aim of this article is to identify diversity between the EU-15 and the New Members in their implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in the period 2000-2010. By analyzing a set of structural indicators, we aim to fill a gap in the literature: the lack of publications providing complex evaluation of the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy using measurable indicators. Given their suitability for international comparisons, we use two taxonomic methods: Ward’s cluster analysis and the synthetic variable method proposed by Hellwig. The results of our analyses confirm the hypothesis of a large gap between the EU-15 countries and the 12 New Members in the key areas of the Lisbon Strategy. According to rankings given by our taxonomic analyses, a high level of the indicators selected is confirmed only for the EU-15 countries and only three New Members belong to a group presenting the average level of these indicators. This study demonstrates a need for a significant intensification of the EU cohesion policy, which is one of the main tools for achieving the Lisbon Strategy goals.