ANALÝZA KONVERGENCE EVROPSKÝCH REGIONŮ NUTS 2 MEZI LETY 2004 AŽ 2019

The thesis, written on the topic of real European convergence, addresses the question of whether convergence has occurred in the European NUTS 2 regions between years 2004 and 2019. The hypothesis presented here is tested by various spatial association methods, namely kernel density estimation function and Markov chain, complemented by a cumulative distribution function, a histogram and auxiliary convergence indices. Each method differs in its scope of application and what new information it brings in order to conclude a better interpretation of obtained results. As a reference indicator was chosen the real GDP per capita in purchasing power standart in terms relative to the European average. In the theoretical part starts by a summary description of the concept of convergence, its history and present trends, then a methodological descriptions of both models and auxiliary indices are introduced. The practical part first starts by introducing the importance of the role of the European Union and its main instrument in regional policy, cohesion policy. Then, using the aforementioned complementary methods, the characteristics of the data under the study are described, from which predictions of the possible trend are made. Finally, both models are then applied on the real data obtained primarily from the Eurostat database. Based on the results, it can be concluded that a convergence in the European Union occured during the period under consideration. Since 2004, a significant number of rich regions have fallen into the class of poorer regions below 100 % of the European average GDP per capita, especially in the outer periphery of the EU. Conversely, living standards have risen in the regions of the new incoming countries, most notably on the borders adjacent to the original members. At the same time, the existence of a convergence club has been confirmed, which also represents the economic centre of the EU with a strong influence on internal convergence. Here, the conjectures of the economists presented in the theoretical part are confirmed, which claim that these two factors play an important role in the convergence process: the location of the region, and the initial state of the economy. Based on the conclusions obtained from presented analysis, recommendations for European convergence policy will be presented.