The book discusses the complex and issues of the implementation of the EU’s grand
strategies. The European Union implementation deficit has become proverbial failure.
While the impact of Europe 2020 has yet to be researched in greater detail, existing
work reveals substantial differences in implementation among the Member States,
especially along the divisions between North and West on one hand and East and
South on the other. Using the Cultural Political Economy as the theoretical background,
the central focus of our interest is the study of possibilities and limitations
of strategic steering of the economic development in the context of a comprehensive
societal development, such as the Europe 2020 intention of achieving ‘smart, inclusive
and sustainable growth’.