COMPETITIVENESS MEASUREMENT IN TERMS OF THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY

In this paper, the present state of competitiveness along with other economic issues in a number of EU countries are investigated, with emphasis placed on the economy of Slovakia. Heterogeneous results were produced in terms of the full integration of these economies into the framework of competitiveness stated in the Europe 2020 strategy. In particular, factors were identified which are the results of rating agencies focusing on indicators based on the position of countries in international markets as well as WEE results, which devote more attention to the economic development of countries. The research objective of this paper is to analyse the relations that exist between innovation and competitiveness, taking into account the results of performance assessment models within the selected countries as the object of the research. Using these models, the present authors evaluate the relationship among composite indicators computed with the help of methodologies in order to confirm the cause-and-effect relations between innovation and competitiveness. The research methodology is based on hypothesis verification focused on level of competitiveness in EU countries and especially in Slovakia.