Social Exclusion and Convergence in the EU: An Assessment of the Europe 2020 Strategy

Juan Angel Lafuente, Amparo Marco, Mercedes Monfort and Javier Ordóñez
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Amparo Marco: Department of Finance and Accounting, University Jaume I, Avda Sos Baynat s.n, Castellón de la Plana 12070, Spain
Mercedes Monfort: Department of Economics and IEI, Universitat Jaume I, Avda Sos Baynat s.n, Castellón de la Plana 12070, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: Economic convergence has long been a declared objective of the EU and considered the fundamental mechanism for achieving socioeconomic cohesion. The recent economic crisis had an uneven impact across EU countries and brought a halt to the process of economic and social convergence. In response to this situation, the Europe 2020 strategy, launched in 2010, aimed to deliver social and territorial cohesion in the Member States. In this paper we evaluate the poverty and social exclusion pillar of the Europe 2020 strategy by analysing whether it has promoted convergence across the EU countries in the indicators devised to capture risk of poverty, severe material deprivation, and the number of persons living in households with very low work intensity. Our results for all three rates indicate that convergence occurs in heterogeneous clubs that do not follow a geographic east?west or south?north pattern. Convergence within each club, especially for the severe deprivation rate, takes place by means of a catching-up process, with Eastern European levels converging on the Western levels. Finally, not only is there club convergence, but there is no tendency for the clubs to convergence. Poverty and social cohesion indicators show a multi-speed Europe, casting doubt on the sustainability of the overall convergence process in the EU.

Keywords: EU integration; social cohesion; sustainability; convergence; Europe 2020 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Working Paper: Social exclusion and convergence in the EU: An assessment of the Europe 2020 strategy (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:5:p:1843-:d:326601

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