Development, the European Union and the financial crisis: assessing the picture

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the developmental status of the Member States of the European Union (EU) in the wake of the global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach - The paper considers the three elements in pairs, i.e. development and the EU, development and the financial crisis, and the EU and the financial crisis, and synthesises these by answering the questions propounded in the introduction. A sustainable development index is constructed for all 28 Member States of the EU. In the next section, the association between the financial crisis and sustainable development is considered for four non-European developing countries, using correlation analysis. Following this, the construction of the EU’s regulatory framework in the wake of the financial crisis is summarised. Findings - Member States who did not have the status of advanced economies on joining the EU have closed the development gap on their neighbours. Of the four non-European countries, the financial crisis is not a major factor in the sustainable development of three of them. Post-crisis legislative reforms within the EU are comprehensive. Nonetheless, a long-term perspective must be taken to effectively address the issues that underlie development, within the EU and beyond. Research limitations/implications - The sustainable development index incorporates most, but not all, of the World Bank’s sustainable development goals. Countries omit to supply data to the World Bank, so figures need to be estimated. Regression analysis is avoided, because of the variable measurement problems therein. Therefore, no claims are made as to causation. All arithmetic workings are shown. Originality/value - The paper integrates three concepts, which is a new research.