Economic freedom and its correlation with the regional sustainable economic development disparities in the EU

The present paper analyzes the implications behind the disparities between Central and Eastern European countries and also the disparities between this set of states and western countries, having as reference point indicators included in the "climate and energy package", collectively known as 20/20/20 targets. This specific set of indicators is used in light of its importance as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. With the help of these three indicators, each representing one of the 20/20/20 targets, the authors wish to perform an analysis of the current state of sustainable economic development using the cluster analysis method. The analysis is going to reveal the existing disparities and similarities between the states and groups of states mentioned above, also explaining the cause of this situation. These causes are expected to be income per capita - which explains the differences between Eastern and Central European countries and those in the West - and also economic freedom measured with the help of the Index of Economic Freedom.