The Member States that have acceded to the EU since 2004 have grown at above average rates and gained shares in the EU-27’s total output. In spite of this, a comparison of the development of ME across the whole of the EU with the progress experienced in individual new Member States 26 shows a below average growth. ME has lost shares of total manufacturing output, particularly in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, although to a lesser degree in the latter ( Figure ). Noteworthy structural changes are underway in the Italian manufacturing industry. For more than a decade.
