Press Release: Quarterly Report on the Euro Area focuses on challenges ahead for Euro area exporters

Euro-area exports, their pre-crisis performance and the challenges lying ahead, was the theme of the focus section of the second issue of the Quarterly Report on the Euro Area in June 2010. During the decade preceding the crisis, euro-area exporters benefited from robust growth in neighbouring emerging markets and a strong specialisation in some key export sectors that acted as powerful export drivers. Their relatively strong competitive position augurs well for their capacity to exploit the opportunities offered by the ongoing recovery in world trade. This will, however, require tackling a number of important challenges revealed by the crisis. By creating incentives for innovation and improving the business environment policy-makers can help companies face these challenges. In addition to trade, the report also sheds new light on the causes of the recent recession in the euro area and the impact of the crisis on cyclical convergence between euro-area Member States.