DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: ASSESSING SPATIAL DISPARITIES AND NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS

This article aims to investigate whether the digital inequality within the European Union (EU) has been reduced in the period 2017-2022. The goal of the study is to measure the dynamics of EU digital inequality and assess the effectiveness of the EU supranational bodies in reducing digital disparities. The author seeks to determine if the dynamics of this divide have been influenced by the EU's supranational policy fostering digital transformation by juxtaposing EU financing of digital transformation and spatial disparities among EU members based on Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and its components. The study reveals that, despite the fact that the agenda of digital divide reduction has been in the focus of the European supranational bodies within the last 22 years, the funding of digital transformation was neither adequate in terms of volumes nor consistent. The main beneficiaries were the EU members located in Western and Southern Europe and the least supported area was the members in Eastern Europe. In addition, using spatial econometric analysis, the author proves that the spatial digital divide has decreased in the period 2017-2022 and coincides only partially with the conventional cleavage "developed North & West VS lagging South & East". However, as the correlation analysis shows, the EU financial support of digital transformation had a slight positive impact on countries' DESI score, which implies that the EU supranational policy on curbing digital divide was only partially effective.