THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORT. Europe in a period of transition

SOCIAL EUROPE IN ACTION: A NEW IMPORTANCE IN THE PANDEMIC AFTER A LOST DECADE 71 downturn during the coronavirus crisis in 2020 was below average. This was the case for all the countries under review here, except Spain (-10.8 percent), Italy (-8.9 percent) and France (-7.9 percent). This means that two of the countries particularly affected by the most recent crisis already experienced economic difficulty ten years ago. If we examine income per capita in the eight coun- tries in terms of the purchasing power standard (PPS) and compare it to the European average (EU27 2020 = 100), a division can be observed in the last year prior to the on- set of the coronavirus crisis between four countries with above-average levels of wealth (Germany, Sweden, Fin- land and France) and four countries with below-average levels of wealth, in other words relatively poor countries (Romania, Estonia, Spain and Italy). However, this division was not always there. Before the start of the crisis decade, Italy and Spain belonged to the group of countries wealthier than the EU ave- rage. Table 2 shows how both countries deteriorated relative to the EU average to 96 percent (Italy) or 91 percent (Spain) of GDP per capita as a direct result of the prolonged euro crisis. By contrast, France was able to maintain its position in the group of wealthy Member States (106 percent of GDP per capita in 2019), despite the low growth rates mentioned above. Romania (70 percent) and Estonia (84 percent), both economies that are catching up, were clearly approaching the EU ave- rage in the period under review. In the case of Sweden (119 percent) and Finland (111 percent), income per capita fell relative to the 2008 EU average. However, in Sweden’s case, this decline did not occur until after 2015. Consequently, Germany (120 percent) has most recently taken the lead since 2016 as the richest of the countries under review here. Table 1. Real GDP growth rate, selected countries and years 2009 2012 2015 2019 2020 Spain -3.8 -3.0 3.8 2.0 -10.8 Italy -5.3 -3.0 0.8 0.3 -8.9 France -2.9 0.3 1.1 1.8 -7.9 Euro 19 -4.5 -0.9 2.0 1.4 -6.4 EU27 -4.3 -0.7 2.3 1.6 -6.0 Germany -5.7 0.4 1.5 0.6 -4.8 Romania -5.5 2.0 3.0 4.1 -3.9 Estonia -14.4 3.1 1.8 5.0 -2.9 Finland -8.1 -1.4 0.5 1.3 -2.9 Sweden -4.3 -0.6 4.5 2.0 -2.8 Source: Eurostat. Table 2. GDP per capita in PPS, selected countries and years, EU27 2020 = 100 2008 2013 2019 Romania 52 55 70 Estonia 70 77 84 Spain 102 90 91 Italy 108 100 96 France 108 110 106 Finland 123 115 111 Sweden 129 129 119 Germany 118 125 120 Source: Eurostat.