Uwarunkowania rozwoju społeczno- gospodarczego środkowoeuropejskich regionów peryferyjnych UE

Regional peripherality is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Peripheral areas are usually characterized by low levels of economic development, infrastructure, entrepreneurship or innovation. The term peripherality can be understood in different ways, but in each case it contains a comparative element. The aim of the study was to analyze and assess the degree of peripherality of selected Central European regions of the EU in 2014 and 2019. The European Union accession of countries located in Central Europe forced farreaching changes in regional policies direction. Although the implementation of European Union regional development concept has brought benefits to studied countries, the extent of development disparities elimination between EU regions is unsatisfactory. The analysis presented in paper was preceded by theoretical concepts concerning peripheral regions review. Empirical research was based on data from the European Statistical Office Eurostat. The obtained results showed a slight variation in development of Central European regions of EU level over the studied period. The research has shown the usefulness of Czekanowski’s diagrammatic method for a comparative peripheral regions evaluation. In applications such as the present problem, where there is a significant range of ambiguity, Czekanowski’s approach may find justification because of its flexibility. The diagraphic method can demonstrate its usefulness in situations of complex interdependencies between objects when hierarchical clustering methods fail.