" (Akademie de) Consider that Germany and France are ranked 1 and 3 in regard to GDP per capita and Slovakia and Slovenia are some of the poorest nations of Europe and therefore offer much less. In Euros, Germany has a 23-012 GDP per capita of 108.7%, France has 23-915 of 113.0%, Slovakia 10-857 of 51.3% and Slovenia 15-941 of 75.3%. The latter are both very close to the bottom of the pack. The following table also shows the disparities in the nations' economies as compared with the EU as a whole.

Member State GDP in billions of $ (USD) GDP

% of EU GDP per capita in $ (USD) Public Debt

% of GDP Deficit

% of GDP Inflation

% Annual Unemp.

Slovenia 43.3-0.4% 21-695 29.4-1.9-2.8-5.8 (Wikipedia)

The newer countries entering the EU do not have the same economic might as the original nations. In fact, they are basically poor. France and Germany may have high unemployment figures, but when compared with Slovakia and Slovenia and the overall national output, the larger nations can allow their economies to offer more to stimulate the EU. The average unemployment rate of the European Union is at 8.9% but only Slovenia is below that average. In addtion, Slovakia is riddled with debt so the fact that it sports a higher than sixteen percent unemployment rate means much more when compared to its potential for economic output.

Country

GNI (PPP) per capita

GDP (PPP) international dollars millions of international dollars

France

Germany

Slovenia

Slovakia

EU-25

Akademie de)

These...

When East Germany and their high unemployment, outdated manufacturing facilities and cash poor economy was mixed with West Germany's, it was quite a challenge to make the endeavor work. The same can be said for these two East European countries. The addition of these poor economies hurts because neither is a viable trading partners for the majority of the other EU nations. Both Slovakia and Slovenia are behind in the realm of technology and industry and that will in turn create a slow down on any progress the EU has made or will make.
In conclusion, the European Union enjoyed significant trade surpluses when compared to the ever widening trade deficit here in the United States. but, with the addtion of ten new nations in 2004, the European Union has begun to show signs of becoming stagnant in regard to economic growth and employment. Of course, economic performance varies from state to state within the union. This entails that some states are carrying others and this report has aimed to show that this trend came about with the ten new addtions to the European Unon in 2004. Countries like Slovenia and Slovakia may not provide the necessary stability needed to maintain an overall EU GDP growth potential.

Works Cited

Akademie de. European Union. Free Definition. Ed. Wikipedia. 2005. Retrieved on 1 May 2005, from Akademie de at http://www.free-definition.com/European-Union.html

Wikipedia. European Union. Ed. Free Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved on 1 May 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

Economics