Spatial differences in the level of regional development in the European Union, on the basis of selected measures

The aim of this article is to show spatial disparities in the level of regional socio-economic development of the European Union, basing on selected demographic, social and economic indexes derived from the Eurostat database. For the comparison, EFTA regions as well as some candidate countries (Croatia) were taken into account. The analysis was made with the help of taxonomic methods, namely the taxonomic development index as well as cluster analysis based on the k-means method. The analysis confirmed existing disparities between eastern and western Europe, “old” and “new” European Union members, as well as between core and peripheral regions. The largest differences were recorded in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant and household income. Having taken into account the period under study, it may be stated that the process of enlarging of EU leads to deepening of disproportion between its regions. The highest level of regional development was presented by the belt of urbanized area with the population of nearly 90 million, stretching from England through the Benelux countries, northern France, middle and southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland to northern Italy, called Blue Banana, Hot Banana, European Megalopolis or European Backbone. Existing demographic and socio-economic disparities between UE regions pose a challenge for regional policy to enhance its social, economic and territorial cohesion on one hand and to increase competitiveness between regions on the other, by investments in economy based on knowledge, increasing entrepreneurship, as well as increasing the potential in the R&D sector and developing IT technology