Social convergence is one of the most important objectives for European integration. It is understood as a process of cohesion and assimilation of countries in the area of social development, which is the conditions a...Social convergence is one of the most important objectives for European integration. It is understood as a process of cohesion and assimilation of countries in the area of social development, which is the conditions and standards of living of the citizens of the European countries （EU27）. The aim of the article was to investigate whether there is convergence or divergence in the EU27 area, taking into account multidimensional analysis of social convergence. Methodology used in the article was taxonomic and statistical tool. It allowed applying the synthetic approach to the issue. The time taken into consideration was the period of 2000-2013. The article showed that the area of the EU27 is very diversified in terms of social development. It allows indicating five groups of countries similar to each other due to the level of social development, although the differences among the groups are significant. The analysis of convergence led to the conclusion that the process of ＂catching up＂ occurred until 2007. Then this process has stopped and even divergence trends are visible due to crisis 2008/2009. The period of 2008-2011 revealed the greatest disparities of development among the EU countries.展开更多
文摘Social convergence is one of the most important objectives for European integration. It is understood as a process of cohesion and assimilation of countries in the area of social development, which is the conditions and standards of living of the citizens of the European countries （EU27）. The aim of the article was to investigate whether there is convergence or divergence in the EU27 area, taking into account multidimensional analysis of social convergence. Methodology used in the article was taxonomic and statistical tool. It allowed applying the synthetic approach to the issue. The time taken into consideration was the period of 2000-2013. The article showed that the area of the EU27 is very diversified in terms of social development. It allows indicating five groups of countries similar to each other due to the level of social development, although the differences among the groups are significant. The analysis of convergence led to the conclusion that the process of ＂catching up＂ occurred until 2007. Then this process has stopped and even divergence trends are visible due to crisis 2008/2009. The period of 2008-2011 revealed the greatest disparities of development among the EU countries.
