CENTROPE Regional Development Report 2011. Long Run Growth and Demographic Challenges

Macroeconomic forecasts for Europe and the CENTROPE countries currently suggest that the recovery of the years 2010 and 2011 was only a short-lived interlude both in the CENTROPE countries as well as most other EU countries. The world-wide slowdown in growth will affect the CENTROPE countries and it can be expected that Europe and thus also the CENTROPE regions are currently entering a period of protracted slow growth. The long-run growth prospects of CENTROPE are, however, intact. GVA and in particular productivity growth in the CENTROPE was substantially higher than in other cross-border metropolitan regions and much of the improved growth performance in CENTROPE in the last years was due to a rapid improvement of regional competitiveness. According to an analysis of demographic developments demographic decline seems to be a smaller problem in the CENTROPE than in many other EU regions. Although this again reflects rather positively on CENTROPE in comparison to the EU, ageing of the population, however, is a serious challenge to the economies of CENTROPE, which will necessitate developing long-term and coherent strategies to maintain living standards and quality of life for citizens in all age groups.