The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 countries located mainly on the European continent and includes a total population of 505,665,000 people. The EU has guaranteed the free movement of people, goods and services between countries in order to strengthen internal affairs, maintain trade and develop a single market. All European Union countries retain some room for maneuver, although there are other areas in which the EU has exclusive competence, such as common policies, competition rules and trade policy. . The unemployment rate has increased in recent years since the start of the crisis and has now reached 10.5%. However, Gross Domestic Power remains positive with annual growth of 0.1%. According to the International Monetary Fund, at the end of 2013, European GDP was the largest in the world, reaching 17,371,618 million US dollars. The inflation rate still remains low, at 1.5%.HISTORY AND MAIN SHIPYARDSAt the beginning of the 20th century, Europe controlled the shipbuilding market, owning 80% of the world market. As the century progressed, this leadership position was overthrown first by Japan in the 1950s and then by South Korea in the 1970s (ECORYS SCS Group, 2009). Despite growing competition from these countries, Europe managed to remain among the leaders in this industry throughout the second half of the 20th century. The rapid growth of China's naval industry is having a significant impact on Europe. During the first decade of the 21st century, Europe lost much of its market share and Europe's largest shipyard ranked 38th in terms of order book measured in GBT in 2008 ( ECORYS SCS Group, 2009). In 2013, Europe had only 1.1% of the w...... middle of paper ......er new market opportunities and to increase competitiveness (European Commission, 2013). Nevertheless, even when Europe had lost competitiveness and new orders in favor of other countries, most European shipyards managed to maintain their strong position in certain specific high-tech and quality market segments, such as cruise ships, luxury yachts, offshore vessels, military ships and ship repair. Currently, four countries dominate the European shipbuilding industry: Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Romania (ECORYS SCS Group, 2009). The future of the European shipbuilding industry depends on the ability to reduce the number of shipyards through capacity-increasing mergers and acquisitions or on the ability to create European consortia that help save costs. money and enable increased investments in R&D, innovation and business development (Spiegel, 2005).