Austria's Membership in the European Union. An Evaluation in Times of Crisis

The study presents the effects produced by Austria's ever deeper integration in the EU, based on model results. Using international comparisons (e.g., with Switzerland), it discusses whether EU membership had advantages or disadvantages in times of crisis and what non-membership would have meant. It is followed by a debate on the euro crisis and the future of economic and monetary union. A collapse of the monetary union would have been much more expensive than the ongoing rescue measures and the commitment to saving it. The study showed that Austria profited economically at all levels of integration (eastern opening accelerated GDP growth by 0.2 percentage point per year, EU membership yielded 0.6 percentage point, EMU membership added 0.4 percentage point, and the EU enlargement made for 0.4 percentage point. The integration effects, deduced from model simulations, of Austria's participation in all EU projects enhanced GDP growth in Austria by altogether 0.5 to 1 percentage point per year. The plausibility of these model results is underlined by comparing Austria's economic development to that of other EU members and third countries. Thus, Austria had a growth advantage over Germany and Switzerland that corresponded to these integration effects. This "growth bonus" would be difficult to impossible to explain without the integration effects generated by Austria's participation in all EU projects.