Revising Development in the EU
The syllabus asks that you should know:
1/ What causes different EU countries
to have different levels of development
2/ What has been done to try to lessen
these inequalities
For this, we compared the UK and
Poland as a case study.
So you need to be able to show Why
Poland is less developed than the UK
and what the EU has tried to do to
lessen the gap in development between
the 2 countries.
Revision Objectives
1/ To be able to
describe the
differences in
development
between Poland
and the UK
2/ To do 1 and
list causes for
this inequality
and what has
been done to
lessen it
3/ To achieve 2
and explain the
impact of the
both the
causes and the
strategies used.
4/ To do 3 in
detail and talk
about
sustainability
Comparing the UK and Poland
Measure
UK
Poland
HDI
21st
41st *
GNP
$36, 130
$17,000
Life Expectancy
79
75
% or roads that are tarred
100
70% in 2003 and 90% in 2007)
Note: there are about 160 countries on the HDI list
Causes of Inequality
Cause
Impact
The UK is more at the CORE of the EU
% of workforce in Agriculture is higher in
Poland
Less of the public roads are tarred in
Poland
Collapse of communism in 1989
Use your notes and your memory to work out the impact
of these causes (in other words think at a level 2 and
maybe level 1 or ‘C grade and higher’ to fill the table)
How the EU tries to reduce inequalities
EU Strategy
Intended Outcomes
European Regional development Fund
The European Social fund
The Cohesion Fund
Common agricultural Policy (CAP)
Urban II Fund
Use the resources to work out the intended impact of these startegies (in other
words think at a level 2 and maybe level 1 or ‘C grade and higher’ to fill the
table
How is the EU trying to reduce
inequality?
•
Urban II fund:
– Sustainable development of troubled
districts
– Renewable energy
– Eco-friendly transport systems
– New jobs
– Renovations of older buildings
•
•
– Poorer regions
– Infrastructure and transport
– GDP less than 75% of EU average –
targeted
•
– European regional development fund
Improve investment and infrastructure
– Cohesion fund
•
Environment and transport- develop
renewable energy
– European social fund
•
Education and training
– Help new eastern European countries
members to develop
Common agricultural policy
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Regional Aid
•
Structural fund
•
Subsidies to farmers
Minimum production levels
Fair standard of life
Reasonable prices
5% work in agriculture
1.6% of GNP
10 new members joining since 2004 –
7 million farmers to 6 million already
Member countries contribute 1%
of total wealth to EU budget–1/3
goes to regional aid
Exam Questions on EU Development
Higher Paper:
Explain why the countries in the EU show a great difference in their
levels of development (8 marks)
Foundation Paper:
Describe one or more ways the EU has tried to reduce the differences
in the levels of development across countries within the EU (6 marks)
Appeared on Both Papers:
Name 2 countries within the EU, one of which is richer and one that is
poorer. For each country give 2 reasons why it is rich or poor. (4 marks)
Describe how the EU has attempted to reduce the differences in the
level of development within Europe
(3 marks)