The financial crisis has brought back to the fore the importance of a stable manufacturing base as a reviver of economic growth. But Europe continues to lose manufacturing jobs, and to see a decline in the share of value added contributed by manufacturing. These trends present major challenges to European and national policymakers, who have often reacted with measures to stop or reverse the decline.
But the trends in manufacturing cannot simply be viewed in terms of a decline that needs to be reversed. Manufacturing still contributes significantly to the EU economy. But the nature of its contribution is changing: despite the decline in employment, manufacturing’s contribution now matters more for Europe’s innovation and productivity growth capacity. Moreover, the manufacturing contribution is increasingly channeled through international value chains, and starts to overlap with the services sector. Policymakers must therefore find ways of attracting those high-value manufacturing activities that will underpin Europe’s sustainable growth and competitiveness.
https://infoeuropa.eurocid.pt/registo/000055235/documento/0001/
