THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN UNION

In context of market globalization, foreign direct investment has become a key factor in ensuring sustainable economic growth. This statement is valid in the context of the international economic-financial crisis, when the attraction of foreign capital is a real engine for ensuring macroeconomic stability. "Geopolitics" is a term used very much by the whole world. It is complex and combines so many domains when it comes about economic development. People from international politics invoke frequently this term to analyze different issues of foreign policy. Such overstatement ignores the fact that geopolitics as a method for analyzing international relations has a history that includes a common vocabulary, well established if concepts are sometimes conflictual, a solid body of thinking and a group recognized by theoreticians and scholars. For geopolitical research, geography is an important aspect in nowadays and it appears to be relevant to the most important aspects of major strategies. Countries may use their strategical position to make connections with different countries to improve the level of trade or to make different alliances. This paper aims first of all to revitalize geopolitics, to highlight European financial and monetary policies and to show the impact of geopolitics on foreign direct investment in European countries. By combining these elements, we will have a clear and broad picture of the global economic and financial situation. Thus, geographic conditions are both a set of opportunities and constraints. Foreign direct investment has important effects on the economies of host countries, among which the most important are the increase of labor productivity through know-how transfer, technology, management and marketing skills, favoring technological progress and long-term economic growth in the countries' development. Also, the foreign direct investment has an impact over the macroeconomic indicators. While most theoretical studies support the idea that foreign direct investment helps economic growth in host countries, some empirical studies have not reached the same conclusion.