DEVELOPMENT OF THE BANKING SECTOR OF EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES : Final paper

Bankarstvo je važna grana svake ekonomije, posebno ako se radi o velikoj ekonomiji kakva je Europska unija. Povijesno gledano, razvoj bankarstva usko je vezan uz pojavu novca. Financijski sustav svake države čine njezina valuta, platni sustav, financijska tržišta, financijske institucije kao i institucije koje nadziru njihov rad. U svom poslovanju banke se trebaju voditi načelima poslovnosti i urednog poslovanja, likvidnosti, rentabilnosti te sigurnosti i efikasnosti ulaganja pritom uvažavajući sve bankarske rizike. U većini zemalja bankarski sektor kontroliran je od strane središnje banke. Tako i Europska središnja banka brine za bankarski sektor eurozone, dok je stabilnost bankarskog sustava ostalih europskih zemalja u domeni njihovih središnjih banaka. Također je važna zadaća središnjih banaka provođenje monetarne politike kojom se kontrolira novčana masa u ekonomiji. U radu se istražuje i analizira razvijenost zemalja članica Europske unije na temelju sljedećih makroekonomskih varijabli: bruto domaći proizvod (BDP), stopa inflacije i stopa nezaposlenosti, kao i razvijenost bankarskog sektora svake pojedine države članice mjerena brojem i ukupnom imovinom banaka te brojem zaposlenih u bankama u razdoblju od 2014. do 2018. godine.Banking is an important branch of any economy, especially if it is a large economy such as the European Union. Historically, the development of banking has been closely linked to the emergence of money. The financial system of each country consists of its currency, payment system, financial markets, financial institutions as well as institutions that supervise their work. In their operations, banks should be guided by the principles of business and orderly operations, liquidity, profitability and security and efficiency of investments, while respecting all banking risks. In most countries, the banking sector is controlled by the central bank. Thus, the European Central Bank takes care of the banking sector of the euro area, while the stability of the banking system of other European countries is in the domain of their central banks. It is also an important task of central banks to implement monetary policy that controls the money supply in the economy. The paper examines and analyzes the development of European union member states based on the following macroeconomic variables: gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate and unemployment rate, as well as the development of the banking sector of each Member State measured by the number and total assets of banks and the number of bank employees in 2014 until 2018