Germany and Denmark have done the best from their membership of a wider Europe, leaving Portugal languishing at the bottom of the pile of member countries.
Portugal’s per capita increase in income attributable to European integration has been just €20 a year, way behind Denmark’s €500 and Germany’s €450.
The study by the Bertelsmann Foundation published this week examined the economic impact resulting from the integration of the single European market in 14 countries between 1992 and 2012, noting that overall it was positive but that there were large variations between countries with the southern countries benefitting the least.
The deepening of European integration meant an average annual increase in income for Italy of €80 per capita, in Spain and Greece €70, and just €20 per head in Portugal.
The Bertelsmann Foundation's report claimed that "A single market based on free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, plays a vital role in European integration. These four fundamental freedoms remove trade barriers between the countries involved and make imports cheaper, which in turn boosts consumer purchasing power. In this way, the single market allows companies to produce for a larger market and further reduce prices thanks to mass production. Moreover, cross-border mobility of workers and capital mean that production factors can be deployed in areas where they can be of greatest value, again providing additional growth stimulus."
The main goal of a single market, which was to bring more prosperity for its citizens, has been reached, the Foundation continues, adding that these results should encourage the EU to deepen the single market.
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Study methodology:
In order to quantify the European single market's impact on growth, the study measured European integration based on its own index.
This integration index is based on an index developed by Jörg König und Renate Ohr, but has been adapted with respect to the evaluation period and the indicators used regarding the specific purpose of the study.
This showed how close the economic ties are between different countries. The index was calculated for the period between 1992 and 2012, for 14 Member States out of the EU-15 (it has not been possible to build up a reliable index for Luxembourg due to large data gaps).
Using regression analysis, this study undertook an econometric evaluation of the impact that any increases in the integration index may have had on real GDP growth rates per capita.
The later stage involved calculating how the GDP per capita in the 14 countries would have developed, if European integration had not progressed since 1992.
