EN
The aim of the article is empirical analysis of convergence process in the European Union especially after extending it by the groups of less developed countries ("cohesion" countries after their accession in the 1980s and Central and Eastern Europe countries after 2004). The econometric methods, based mainly on regression growth models, are implemented, first of all, to verify the hypothesis about the existence of beta convergence and its impact on sigma convergence; secondly, to verify the theoretically proved statement that capital accumulation become less important in convergence processes as compared to the increasing role of technological progress. The results of the investigation point at the existence of beta convergence and its important but decreasing impact on reducing income disparities among European Union Member States. An additional survey on the existence of convergence clubs, conducted using the approach based on polynomial functions, , confirms, that all the analysed countries were approaching the same steady state and creating a common convergence club.(original abstract)