THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF ITS MEMBER STATES
This paper empirically examines the impact of economic integration on economic growth in the European Union. As a measure of influence, we used the composite index of European economic integration. The index was compiled on the basis of 15 indicators grouped into three areas: a single market, economic homogeneity and economic symmetry. The principal component analysis was used to determine the weights for each indicator. The combined panel data model for a sample of 28 member states of the European Union served as a tool. The time period of the study is from 2014 to 2019, depending on the availability of data. The variable modeling economic growth is the percentage change in GDP per capita, the factors are the index of economic integration in the EU and the change in the index of economic integration in the EU. The results of the three model specifications show that the factors have a positive effect on the dependent variable. At the same time, the indicator of the change in the index of economic integration in the EU has a stronger effect on the indicator of the percentage change in GDP per capita than the index value itself. According to the results, economic integration into the European Union in the period 2014-2019 had a generally positive impact on the economic growth of its member states.