The application of relative taxonomy to the study of disproportions in the area of sustainable development of the European Union.

The aim of this paper is a comparative analysis of the disparities between EU Member States regarding the uniformity of the observed changes in the field of sustainable development. In order to fulfil the purpose the relatively dynamic taxonomy has been applied. In the work the key indicators of the Sustainable Development analysis have been used. Application of relative measures enabled to assess the situation of a given country in relation to all other countries. According to the research relatively high levels of dis-proportionality between the EU Member States in the field of sustainable development can be observed. Surprisingly the greatest deterioration was observed between Southern European countries and not as could be expected between Western and Northern ones. The leaders throughout the period of analysis were the Netherlands and France, which clearly stood out in favor of the other countries. The least favorable positions were taken by Malta and Bulgaria, which were at the end of the all rankings. The results obtained can be utilized in subsequent years to examine the directions of change observed both from the point of view of individual EU Member States and geographical regions of Europe in the area of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]