Institutions and Development in the EU Periphery

Those EU countries at an intermediate level of development, such as Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece, failed, with the exception of Ireland, to achieve convergence, despite substantial financial assistance. EU structures did not assist the heterogeneous nature of these countries. In addition, serious internal problems and institutional weaknesses contributed to a differential attraction of Foreign Direct Investment and to a failure of their domestic capital to play a more dynamic role in the developmental process of these economies.