Területi különbségek kialakulására ható tényezők vizsgálata az Európai Unió 27 tag- és tagjelölt államának régióiban

The paper analyses the regional development disparities of the EU-27 member and candidate countries and their factors at the regional level. The author analyses the data published by the European Commission in the Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion. The analysis deals with descriptive statistical methods and cluster analyses. The GDP per capita figures of the EU-27 member and candidate countries show that the EU-15 countries have a favourable position comparing with the new member and candidate countries. In the elimination of the development disparities the Western European countries were also more successful than the new member states. Because of the low level of general development, the regions of the candidate Balkan countries have a lower level of regional disparities then the other Eastern European countries. The regional disparities are more serious in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia where the developed central regions and the less developed rural regions caused that phenomenon.