ABSTRACT
The 27 member states of the European Union (EU) offer some instructive comparisons
for the planner – both with each other, and still more so with the experience of Britain
as outlined in the preceding chapters. In no EU country, in the early twenty-first century,
does agriculture make any significant contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP),
while industry accounts for one third at most; almost everywhere, services account for
three fifths or more of gross value added. Employment in primary production (agriculture,
forestry and fishing) in the great majority of the 27 EU countries is less than 10 per
cent and in most less than 5 per cent, though the proportion is still 12 per cent in Latvia
and 30 per cent in Romania; industrial employment accounts for less than 30 per cent,
rising to 39-40 per cent only in Slovakia and the Czech Republic; services thus generally
account for well over half of employment and three fifths of GDP.
