Cluster Policies In The European Union - Engines For Sustainable Economic Development And Competitiveness

The present article wishes to present the topic of clusters and cluster policies, to highlight their status and role in the European Union and to underline their significant purpose in obtaining a sustainable economic development, and in making a more competitive and well oiled Europe. The research for this article is part of a greater goal - that of getting the answer to the question: What are clusters what and how can "they" better the performance of the regions that are part of the member states of the European Union? To do that, an inquiry into the issue was necessary, by analyzing information from multiple data sources and by drawing some conclusions, based on those informations. The conducted research was empirical, and in order to better highlight the relationship between clusters, cluster policies and economic development, a synthesis of different case studies and statistical data were used. The conclusion that was found was that strong cluster portfolios are related to (and thrive in) developed countries, but interestingly enough, relationship can also be reversed (meaning that clusters cause the region they exist in to increase its performance).Also, clusters are highly prevalent from a geographical point of view, the existence of which can be seen globally, of course in different stages of development. And last, but not least, from the standpoint of national cluster policies, although all countries have programs for clusters either at national or regional level, which varies from country to country is the number and type of ministries that are responsible for implementing cluster policies. Also another factor that varies is the importance given to cluster policies. However an issue that is becoming increasingly clear is that the cluster policy is becoming more important and relevant. Therefore, the hypothesis was confirmed, there is a direct correlation between clusters, cluster policies and sustainable economic development and competitiveness.