Innovation clusters in the 10 new member states of the European Union

This report finds that the lack of regional specialisation might be an important factor explaining the European competitiveness gap with leading global peers. The report presents the first systematic mapping and analysis of regional clusters across the EU-10. It describes the More... differences in regional specialisation across 38 cluster categories, the changes that have occurred in cluster specialisation patterns in the last few years, and the nature of the leading loc…

This report finds that the lack of regional specialisation might be an important factor explaining the European competitiveness gap with leading global peers. The report presents the first systematic mapping and analysis of regional clusters across the EU-10. It describes the More... differences in regional specialisation across 38 cluster categories, the changes that have occurred in cluster specialisation patterns in the last few years, and the nature of the leading locations across individual cluster categories. The cluster sector gained a total of 1 million jobs between 2000 and 2004, an increase of about 10 per cent. Overall, the regional clusters account for almost two thirds of total employment in the cluster sector across the 10 new Member States.
In recent years, strong clusters have emerged, such as in the automotive industry, but some other sectors lost economic importance (eg footwear).
The figures in the report suggest that the economies of the EU-10 countries are still undergoing an intense structural change.