Business cycles synchronization in the European Union: truth or challenge?

This paper provides an updated picture of the degree of business cycles synchronization in the European Union, analyzing its evolution during 1999-2011. We use the Hodrick-Prescott filter to capture the relevant trends in the business cycles and the Pearson correlation coefficient to measure the degree of synchronization. The results obtained show that the highest level of business cycle synchronization with the Euro Area is reached by Finland and France, while Poland is by far the country with the most divergent business cycle.