PERCEPTION OF COMPETITIVENESS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FACETS OF "SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS"

European Council agreed to the European Commission's proposal to launch a new strategy for jobs and growth - the new European Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth - "Europe 2020". This will lead to a new concept of the competitiveness and deeper relationship between sustainable development and competitiveness. The aim of this article is to set out the future research area of competitiveness theory taking into account the development of competitiveness concept and existing research tendencies. On the one hand, for developing the new concept of competitiveness, it is necessary to critically analyse existing studies on competitiveness. Researchers, examining the problems of competitiveness, differently approach the concept of competitiveness, suggesting different definitions, classification, factors, models of competitiveness, and evaluation criteria. Despite all the discussions on competitiveness however, no clear definition or model of competitiveness has yet been developed. On the other hand, globalization, economic dynamism and social progress, sustainability and competitiveness go hand-in-hand. Competitiveness should be underpinned by a broad vision for the economy and society. There is a need of research initiatives to develop the new concept of "Sustainable competitiveness" in the context of globalisation, with much of the research focusing on how sustainable development and competitiveness interact. Such additional research will lead to new theoretical models describing the relationships between international globalization, economic growth, sustainable development, wellbeing and competitiveness.