EN
Socioeconomic convergence is usually identified with the harmonization of income level across countries. According to the activist convergence approach, apart from macroeconomic performance described by such indicators as income per capita, productivity and employment rates, social matters should also be taken into account. While social convergence is being a subject of discussion it is worth to compare the differences in public spending on education, health care, R&D activity, infrastructure or social protection between EU-27 countries. Although the development gap between EU-15 and Central Eastern Europe countries has been decreased significantly since the beginning of 90s but the process of catching up with the West Europe seems to be too slow and even more difficult to achieve in future, especially as a result of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007. That is why economic and social cohesion is nowadays one of the most important priorities of EU policy. The main purpose of this paper is to show the process of social convergence of the Polish economy compared to the European Union countries. Poland, undoubtedly, has been catching up with the EU-15 countries more quickly in the last few years, thanks to strong growth performance. In spite of the economic boom and undertaken reforms, it has failed to reduce disparities in living standards of Polish society against a background of the other UE countries.