IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON DEVELOPMENT OF EU REGIONS

Purpose: The main purpose of the study is to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of EU regions in selected aspects of life: employment, tourism, Internet access and human resources in science and technology. Design/methodology/approach: To study the impact of the pandemic on regional development, the average rates of change before and after the pandemic in most EU regions were counted. By comparing average rates of change in selected areas of life, it was examined what impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on regional development. The regions were also ordered from the most developed (in terms of selected indicators) to the least developed using the Hellwig linear ordering method. Findings: The analyses show that the pandemic had an impact on the development of the regions of the EU countries, however, it was mostly a short-term impact. The most severe losses were suffered by the tourism industry, here development was halted and only in 2023 the number of nights spent in tourist accommodations is comparable to 2019. In the case of HRST and household access to the Internet, there was indeed an increase in indicators in 2020, however, there was a correction in subsequent years. In the case of the employment indicator, there was a sharp decline in 2020, which was more than made up for in subsequent years in most regions. The regions were also ranked in terms of the development of the characteristics studied (excluding household Internet access) from the most developed to the least developed in 2012, 2019 and 2023. Research limitations/implications: Further research should focus on further analyzing similarities in the development of EU regions. Taking into account even more indicators, a more complete picture of the development of EU regions and the impact of the pandemic on this development can be obtained. Unfortunately, there are many data gaps in the Eurostat database, which excludes some regions from analysis. Social implications: Thanks to the conclusions drawn from the analysis, we can get an idea of how regions in the EU are developing and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on this development. We live in a time of globalization, diseases from one end of the world to the other end of the world move very quickly, the possibility of another pandemic in the near future is high. So it is worth seeing which regions have dealt with the effects of the pandemic the best, and you can then adopt some of the solutions that have been applied in those regions to counter the effects of the pandemic. Originality/value: While countries are often compared with each other, regions are already much less frequently. The article shows the changes that are taking place precisely in the regions of EU countries. Of course, many decisions are made at the national level, however, also at the level of regions many important decisions can be made, so that some regions develop better and others less well.