MULTIPLE CRITERIA ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

The objective of the article is compare the European Union member states in regard to their achievements in creating conditions for digital economy development. The research took a multiple-criteria perspective as the phenomenon of digital economy was measured with application of ten diagnostic variables. The data for the research was obtained from Eurostat. The analysis was conducted for the years 2011 and 2017. In the research taxonomic measure of development obtained with the Zdzislaw Hellwig method was used. Based on the method the ranking and grouping of the countries was possible. The grouping of the economies was done with natural breaks method. The research confirmed significant disparities not only between the old and new EU member states, but also significant differences in the level of development of the digital economy among EU-15. Additionally, the research also proved high stability of disparities between the European economies.