The EC recognized Europe's significant underperformance compared to other major economies

For more than 20 years, Europe has failed to keep pace with other major economies due to a persistent gap in productivity growth, according to a report by European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis published on the European Commission's website on January 28.

"Sustainable improvements in living standards are only possible if labor productivity growth rates remain high. This is precisely where the main problem lies. For more than two decades, Europe has not kept pace with other major economies because of the persistent gap in labor productivity growth. The EU has stopped catching up with the USin terms of labor productivity," Dombrovskis said.

The report notes that the EU has fallen behind by about 20 percent since the 1990s, with the gap with China narrowing.

According to Dombrovskis, among the main problems is Europe's weak representation in sectors that have seen strong productivity growth in recent decades, such as information and communication technology manufacturing and digital services.

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