ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE EUROPEAN MODEL.

Within the European model, the macroeconomic and cohesion policies insure a good substantiation of the sustained economic growth. The achievement of the Single Market had positive effects upon the European economy as a whole, but these benefits have not been equally distributed among states, regions and social groups. The market is the most efficient mechanism of resource allocation within the economy, but it is not the tool insuring the distribution of the registered benefits. For this reason, the mechanisms of the cohesion policy can improve the tendencies of the economic activities concentration, once the economic integration process has intensified. The economic convergence consists in the very close, even identical evolutions of one variable in two different countries or regions. In this paper, the author proposes to explain the defining elements of the European model, emphasizing the connection between the convergence process and real economic growth process. In this sense, we will present the European model of regional growth, which contributes to the achievement of a real economic convergence process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]