The Greek Economy and European Integration

The process of European integration involves the accelerated socio-economic convergence of member countries. But the weight of a country’s cultural characteristics can weigh heavily on its development. Thus, the social division of labour in Greece reveals quite exceptional characteristics, among them the survival of a small, fragmented peasantry, the large incidence of independent forms of work, and the persistence of overburdened public employees. It is therefore normal that, in this respect, the convergence of the country with the European norm encounters socio-cultural resistances. The construction of Europe is an unprecedented historical process. This is an unprecedented social experiment aimed at the sustainable integration of several independent countries into a new common economic and political space. We are therefore faced with a project that has major, even radical, consequences. It is true that the fundamental social principles of the member societies are not called into question. But the creation of the new common space supposes the establishment of truly original institutional and ideological forms. The original and unpredictable nature of this process is therefore obvious.