EU competitiveness in a globalized world

Notwithstanding its many structural problems and regional differences, the European Union as a whole is greatly competitive on global economic arena. Yet the global financial crisis that began in 2008 exposed the arguably key challenge for the Union’s competitiveness - the divergence between the North and the South. While monetary integration was one of the policies to smooth it, its practical effects have been controversial, with Greece as the most evident example. Solving this competitiveness dilemma while keeping the European Monetary Union intact requires not just sophisticated structural policies, but also an acceptance that the burden of restructuring in the South would have to be shared by the North.