Towards the Goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy: Convergence or Divergence of the European Union Countries?

Agata Szymańska; Elżbieta Zalewska

doi:10.2478/cer-2018-0004

Authors

Agata Szymańska Institute of Economics, University of Lodz
Elżbieta Zalewska Institute of Statistics and Demography, University of Lodz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/cer-2018-0004

Keywords:

Europe 2020 Strategy, cluster analysis, European Union

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the similarities between the EU countries in terms of achieving the Europe 2020 Strategy goals. Due to the latest data availability, the analysis is based on the year 2014. The study uses grouping methods, including the k-means algorithm. The results indicate the existence of a division between the “old” and “new” European Union Member States. However, as is shown, some of the Strategy’s targets have already been achieved and some indicators have been nearly achieved, whereas among others, such as implementation of the headline indicator for investment in the R&D sector as a % of GDP is uncertain. The average performance of headline indicators for the EU–15 and EU–13 countries seems to be similar and exhibits the same trend of changes.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC, Official Journal of the European Union, L 315/1.
Google Scholar

Domański Cz. (ed.), Białek J., Bolonek-Lasoń K., Mikulec A. (2011), Nieklasyczne metody oceny efektywności i ryzyka. Otwarte fundusze emerytalne. PWE, Warszawa.
Google Scholar

Dziechciarz J. (ed.) (2003), Ekonometria. Metody, przykłady, zdania. Wydawnictwo Akademii Ekonomicznej im. Oskara Langego we Wrocławiu, Wrocław.
Google Scholar

European Commission (2010), EUROPE 2020. A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, Communication from the Commission, Brussels, 3.3.2010.
Google Scholar

European Commission (2010b), Lisbon Strategy Evaluation Document. SEC (2010) 114 final. Brussels. 2 February 2010.
Google Scholar

European Commssion (2012), The European Union Explained: Europe 2020: Europe’s Growth Strategy, European Commission, Belgium.
Google Scholar

European Council (2000), Lisbon European Council 23 and 24 March 2000 Presidency Conclusions.
Google Scholar

European Council (2008), Presidency Conclusions. 7652/1/08 REV 1. Brussels. 13–14 March 2008.
Google Scholar

European Council (2010c), Council of the European Union. Council Conclusions on Europe 2020, 7586/2010, Brussels, 16 March 2010.
Google Scholar

Eurostat (2016), Smarter, Greener, More Inclusive? – Indicators to Support the Europe 2020 strategy, Eurostat.
Google Scholar

Milligan G.W., Cooper M.C. (1985), An Examination of Procedures for Determining the Number of Clusters in a Data Set, ‘Psychometrika’, Volume 50, Issue 2, pp. 159–179 doi: 10.1007/BF02294245
Google Scholar

Mojena, R. (1977), Hierarchical Grouping Methods and Stopping Rules; An Evaluation, ‘Computer Journal‘, No. 20, 359–363.
Google Scholar

Natali D. (2010), The Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 and the Crisis in Between [in:] E. Marlier, D. Natali (eds.), Europe 2020: Towards a More Social EU? P.I.E. Peter Lang, Brussels.
Google Scholar

Stanisz A. (2007), Przystępny kurs statystyki z zastosowaniem STATISTICA PL na przykładach z medycyny. Tom 3 – Analizy wielowymiarowe, StatSoft, Kraków.
Google Scholar

Ward J. H. (1963), Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function, ‘Journal of the American Statistical Association‘, 58, 236–244. doi: 10.1080/01621459.1963.10500845
Google Scholar