The introduction of the new ESA95 (the European System of National and Regional Accounts) will cause GDP in the EU to go up by 2.4% since 2011. The change will allow more consistent comparisons to be made and increase the accuracy of economic data. Spain, whose GDP has gone up one or two percentage points, which will help shave the high debt/GDP ratio.
The ESA95 has several new parts. R&D spending, for example, will be treated as investment, something that will underscore how little Spain spends in this area. While our GDP went up by one or two points, GDP went up by four and five points in Finland, Switzerland and Holland. This is another example how access to credit defines the difference between northern and southern Europe.
