EN
The aim of the article is to analyze human resources in science and technology in the competitive context of the Polish economy against other EU states' in the years 2004 - 2010. The basis for research are the assumptions of the Lisbon Strategy and its successor, Europe 2020. The research problem is a relatively low level of competitiveness of the Polish economy in the years 2004 - 2010. The source material to evaluate the level of competitiveness is based on the reports of two leading institutes: World Economic Forum (WEF), and International Management Development (IMD). The following considerations assume that human resources in science and technology (HRST) are a significant source of competitive, economic potential. It has been found meaningful to investigate and evaluate these resources in Poland, and to compare the results with other EU states. Due to availability of data, only years 2004 - 2009 were analyzed. Empirical analysis has shown that in the analyzed period Poland indicated: (1) a high rate of HRST growth, significantly higher than EU-27's;(2) a rising share in HRST in general population, also in the number of economically active population, yet still lower than in other EU-27 states; (3) a high rate of growth in the number of specialists and engineers employed in the science and technology sector - a rate three times higher than in EU-27 average. The basis for these considerations is the available and most recent statistical data from EUROSTAT, WEF and IMD reports, European Commission documents - Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 - and OECD guidelines for HRST measurement ('Canberra Manual').