Snapshot of the EU regions with a view to selected Europe 2020 targets

Summary:

In 2014-2020, €461 billion from the EU budget is allocated to EU regions for investments in support of the strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (Europe 2020). The NUTS 2 classification (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) divides EU territory into 281 regions with population thresholds between 800 000 and 3 000 000. It is used for the purpose of collection and harmonisation of statistics and for socio-economic analysis. Furthermore, it is used for allocating European structural and investment funds (ESIF) to EU regions.

This paper provides statistics for the NUTS 2 regions with a focus on selected Europe 2020 targets, firstly looking at GDP and unemployment for the years 2007 and 2017/18. It shows the employment situation of the younger generation in 2018. It then considers employment, poverty and education in the light of selected Europe 2020 targets, and internet usage in view of the EU’s digital agenda. Finally, it shows the ESIF allocation for the 2014-2020 period and EU payments up to June 2019.

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