Snapshot of the EU regions with a view to selected Europe 2020 targets

Briefing 19-07-2016

The NUTS classification (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) is a system to divide the territory of Member States (MS) into regions for the purpose of collection and harmonisation of statistics and for socio-economic analysis. There are three NUTS NUTS: 1, 2 and 3 respectively, moving from smaller to larger territorial units.NUTS 2 divides EU territory into 276 regions with minimum and maximum population thresholds of 800 000 and 3 000 000. It is used for allocating European structural and investment funds to EU regions.This paper provides statistics for the 276 NUTS 2 regions, firstly looking at GDP and unemployment for the years 2004 and 2014. Second, it shows the employment situation of the younger generation in 2014. It then considers employment, poverty and education in the light of selected Europe 2020 targets, and internet usage in view of the EU’s digital agenda. Finally it shows the allocation of structural and investment funds for the period 2014-2020.