The Cause of the North-South Divide in European Union

The North-South divide in Europe is one of the most pressing challenges facing members of the European Union, influencing the process of integration within the Union. The North-South divide manifest the classic European divides such as East and West, old and young, Continent-oriented or Atlantic-oriented, and not developed-less developed. How did this divide emerge? What are the extent of it? Within the framework of governance theory, the article assesses the divide at three levels: first, structural deficiency amongst the south, political and economic corruption, gap in governance, unequal GDP and cultural-religious differences manifests themselves at national level. At regional level, the differences between France and Germany, the Euro crisis and ensuing austerity measures have affected the North-South divide. Internationally, globalisation and global crisis (es) deepened the divide.