L'evoluzione degli scambi intra-Cee ed extra-Cee di servizi: alcune osservazioni empiriche - The Development of Intra-EEC and Extra-EEC Service Trade: Some Empirical Evidence

The service sector of the European economy has grown fast during the last decade, reaching a consistent weight in terms of its contribution to the GDP and total occupation. Also the intra-EEC trade in services has grown, though at a very lower rate if compared with that of goods. As in the standard theory of Economic Integration, the question is whether the internal process of integration has been pursued at the expense of world integration or the Community has become increasingly integrated in the world economy. The Apparent Consumption methodology developed by Truman is applied over the period 1979-1988. The main results reveal that f or the European service sector, the process of integration has not truly started since all European countries depend on intra-EEC or extra-EEO imports of services for a very low percentage o! their Apparent Consumption. This percentage is constant, when not decreasing, over the period considered, showing high difficulties on this sector‘s integration among the Twelve. Consequently the hope is that the process of completing the internal market will he able to speed up the service sector’s integration.