By Bruno Waterfield - 24th November 2006
A report published today shows an east-west divide in competitiveness as new EU member states struggle to keep up.
The latest European competitiveness index finds that only three regions within the new EU are more competitive than the European average.
Prague enters regional rankings in seventh position, Bratislava in 10th, with the Közép-Magyarország region of Hungary, which includes Budapest, ranked 47th.
“The report reveals a number of problems concerning Europe’s bid to improve its competitiveness,” said the reports author Dr Robert Huggins.
“Those regions featured at the bottom of the rankings generally lack the economic and industrial infrastructure that is a feature of Europe’s most competitive regions.”
“They also tend to be remotely situated at the eastern edge of Europe and are unable to connect themselves with the major European markets.”
Another 24 regions from the new member states are “significantly less competitive than the European average and prop-up the bottom tier of the 118 locations compared by the index”.
According to the report, Brussels tops Europe’s competitiveness league mainly due to “unique levels of public sector investment it receives through the activities of the European commission”.
Spain sees the biggest improvements since 2004, with all regions moving up the rankings, Germany and the Netherlands registered a fall in competitiveness.
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