By contrast, construction activity in other European countries remained an important pillar of economic growth. Finally, consideration also has to be given to the fact that living standards in the monetary union are still very disparate.
Since the poorer countries are supposed to catch up with the EMU average, they have to go on growing more strongly than those countries which have already achieved a high level of income. A comparatively low level of growth in an already advanced country should therefore not have too much importance attached to it. II.