Retell Lecture

After the recession era Europe confronted a change in economy structures in Europe. After industrial revolution around the 19th century, the machinery was widely used in the manufacturing, so the production in factories increased. As a result, circulation of goods became faster, and this led to more accumulation of social wealth. Because of this, the population of middle class expanded and this resulted in the additional accumulation of wealth. This research that conducted by pioneering scientists examined the extent and patterns of structural changes that have occurred in European economies during the recent crisis, using some stylized facts on changing output and employment structures at a detailed sectorial level. Focusing mainly on the new EU member states, we compare the performance of various European countries by looking at the differentiated impact of the recent crisis on structural shifts in their economy. We start with stylized facts related to output and employment structures at broader sectorial (NACE-2) level and attempt to find out whether there has been a structural convergence (or divergence) of the New EU Member States (NMS) compared to the more advanced 'old' EU countries (OMS) during the crisis. Finally, we provide also some policy conclusions related to the future role of the NMS in the economy of an integrated Europe, especially in view of post-crisis growth challenges. The financial crisis 2008-2011 adversely affected the manufacturing industry more than services--particularly in terms of employment--and accelerated structural change in favor of the services sector. The latter tendency was more pronounced in the NMS though even here country-specific differences were remarkable. The importance of industry in this group of countries remains strong. There has been no EU-wide uniform pattern of structural change; the formulation of industrial policy at the EU level-- even reaching the 20% target of industry's share in GDP--is challenging and hardly attainable.