The role of industry in economy of European Union regional systems

The aim of the paper is to present the role of industrial activity in the economy of European Union regional systems, with a special reference to Poland, measured by the employment rate and gross added value. Defining the range of influence of regional industry should allow us to define the places of accumulation of new development advantages, which is important from the perspective of the development of these areas. To assess the recent changes in the space of European industry in regional systems, a dynamic analysis of the discussed processes was carried out, covering the period of economic transformation of the Central and Eastern Europe countries and their integration with the European Union. To analyze the function of industry in the development of knowledge-based economy, the authors identified the relationship between the amount of investment in industry and the potential employees in research and development activities. The authors also attempt to assess the suitability of various measures of industrial development to determine their role in regional economic systems in the conditions of intensifying processes of globalization and European integration.