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Figures recently published by the EU statistics agency Eurostat show that some candidate countries (CC) for membership have become wealthier than the poorer Member States, while others are falling further behind. Cyprus and Slovenia now have a higher level of GDP per person than Portugal and Greece, however Bulgaria and Romania now have a lower percentage of the EU average than they did in 1996.
Member State |
GDP/person |
% EU Average |
Applicant State |
GDP/person |
% EU Average |
|
|
1999 (1996) |
|
1999 (1996) | ||
|
Luxembourg |
38,840 (30,999) |
184.0 (167.5) |
Cyprus |
17,100 (14,500) |
81.0 (78.4) |
|
Denmark |
25,000 (22,578) |
118.4 (122.0) |
Slovenia |
15,000 (12,200) |
71.1 (65.9) |
|
Netherlands |
23,830 (19,842) |
112.9 (107.2) |
Czech Republic |
12,500 (12,000) |
59.2 (64.9) |
|
Ireland |
23,630 (18,147) |
111.9 (98.1) |
Hungary |
10,700 (8,600) |
50.7 (46.5) |
|
Austria |
23,580 (20,441) |
111.7 (110.5) |
Slovakia |
9,800 (8,100) |
46.4 (43.8) |
|
Belgium |
23,440 (20,889) |
111.0 (112.9) |
Poland |
7,700 (6,200) |
36.5 (33.5) |
|
Germany |
22,710 (20,274) |
107.6 (109.6) |
Estonia |
7,700 (6,100) |
36.5 (33.0) |
|
Sweden |
21,600 (18,526) |
102.3 (100.1) |
CC Average |
7,400 (6,700) |
35.1 (36.2) |
|
United Kingdom |
21,570 (17,900) |
102.2 (96.7) |
Turkey |
6,500 (6,000) |
30.8 (32.4) |
|
Italy |
21,160 (18,950) |
100.2 (102.4) |
Lithuania |
6,200 (5,300) |
29.7 (28.6) |
|
Finland |
21,160 (18,039) |
100.2 (97.5) |
Latvia |
5,800 (4,700) |
27.5 (25.4) |
|
EU Average |
21,110 (18,503) |
100.0 (100.0) |
Romania |
5,700 (6,100) |
27.0 (33.0) |
|
France |
20,860 (19,556) |
98.8 (105.7) |
Bulgaria |
4,700 (4,600) |
22.3 (24.9) |
|
Spain |
17,320 (14,340) |
82.0 (77.3) |
|
|
|
|
Portugal |
15,940 (13,147) |
75.5 (71.1) |
|
|
|
|
Greece |
14,200 (12,484) |
67.3 (67.5) |
|
|
|
Eurostat has released a report which examines expenditure on pensions in the European Union countries. The figures include both old age and disability pensions. On average the spending on pensions took up 13% of EU Gross Domestic Product in 1997 compared with 11.8% in 1990. However there is a wide variation between member states ranging from 4.8% in Ireland to 16% in Italy. This can at least be partly explained by the difference in the proportion of pension-age people between countries. More than 17% of Italians are over 65 compared to less than 12% in Ireland.
Country |
% of Gross Domestic Product spent on pensions | |
|
|
1997 |
1990 |
|
Ireland |
4.8 |
5.9 |
|
Portugal |
10.3 |
7.6 |
|
Spain |
10.5 |
9.2 |
|
Denmark |
11.2 |
9.6 |
|
UK |
11.2 |
9.6 |
|
Greece |
11.8 |
12.1 |
|
Finland |
12.0 |
10.4 |
|
Belgium |
12.1 |
11.5 |
|
Sweden |
12.8 |
--.-- |
|
Luxembourg |
12.8 |
12.2 |
|
EU average |
13.0 |
11.8 |
|
Germany |
13.2 |
12.0 |
|
France |
13.4 |
12.2 |
|
Euro-zone |
13.4 |
12.2 |
|
Netherlands |
14.2 |
15.4 |
|
Austria |
14.3 |
13.7 |
|
Italy |
16.2 |
14.0 |
The European Commission regards the level of state aid to industry as still too high. Its eighth annual report shows a decrease from €104.2 billion to €93 billion but there are considerable differences between member states. For instance in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for a third of all state aid, Italy spends about six times as much per employee as the United Kingdom. Commissioner Mario Monti said 'the high levels of aid give rise to concern, even if the figures show a downward trend over the years'.
Country |
State aid per manufacturing employee - Euros |
Country |
State aid per manufacturing employee - Euros | ||
|
|
1994-1996 |
1996-1998 |
|
1994-1996 |
1996-1998 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Italy |
2,419 |
1,955 |
Netherlands |
702 |
735 |
|
Luxembourg |
1,400 |
1,476 |
Austria |
654 |
719 |
|
Ireland |
909 |
1,456 |
Spain |
769 |
691 |
|
Germany |
1,941 |
1,434 |
Sweden |
421 |
441 |
|
Denmark |
1,252 |
1,433 |
UK |
317 |
334 |
|
France |
895 |
1,131 |
Portugal |
263 |
188 |
|
Belgium |
1,376 |
1,093 |
|
|
|
|
Greece |
925 |
997 |
|
|
|
|
Finland |
928 |
959 |
|
|
|
|
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