Trade networks and value chains: the evolving position of EU peripheries in two decades

Abstract The paper analyses the evolution of the European trade network and value chains over the last two decades from the perspective of EU peripheral countries. A substantial reshuffling of economic linkages between core and peripheral economies occurred in the period 2000–2019. The eastward expansion of the powerful German manufacturing platform significantly strengthened the industrial base of some peripheral countries (especially Visegrád Group countries). Conversely, other peripheral countries followed a different evolution, marked by deindustrialisation, loss of human capital through migration flows, dependence on external financial flows (i.e. Southern Europe). A particular attention is devoted to the automotive sector, an industry that emblematically embodies the evolving hierarchical structure of production relations between core and peripheral countries in Europe and its connection with global dynamics. On the one hand, the recent pandemic has highlighted that long value chains are fragile and require major efforts of technological innovation to organise them in the best possible way (also in terms of reducing their ecological impact). On the other hand, the revolution that is expected in the automotive sector (electric cars, self-driving cars, car sharing, etc.) may have very serious effects in terms of industrial restructuring and job losses, especially in those European countries where the car industry accounts for a significant share of total employment.