The aim of the research is to determine the impact of financial technology (FinTech) on financial development in EU countries. The multi-dimensional nature of the concepts described above and the low availability of data for regions smaller than countries makes it difficult to investigate the link between financial development and FinTech, as well as affects the values of the results due to a certain averaging of indices across countries. The study examines the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Development Index, which characterize financial development in the EU countries, as well as the sub-indices of the Financial Development Index. The article applies frequency analysis and correlation analysis methods. A positive linear relationship between the Global Fintech Index and the Financial Markets Index sub-index, as well as its components Financial Markets Depth Index and Financial Markets Efficiency Index, has been identified. There is also a positive linear relationship between the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Institutions Depth Index, while a negative linear relationship has been identified between the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Institutions Access Index.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

To what extent does financial development determine economic growth? Despite the obvious relationship between the level of financial development and economic growth rates, there is still no consensus on the significance and focus of this relation. Is there a directed impact of the level of financial development on economic growth, or does the development of a financial sector follow economic growth? Or is the relation between financial development and economic growth bidirectional? The aim of the research is to analyze the causal relationship between quantitative and dynamic differences in financial development and economic growth in the EU countries in the period 1995 - 2017. The period of the research from 1995 to 2017 is determined by the availability of financial development indicators for the EU countries. In order to prove the directed impact of the level of financial development on economic growth in the EU countries in the period 1995-2017, the average values of growth in the financial development index with the lag forwarding by one year, with the lag falling behind by one year, without the lag, and average values of the GDP growth per capita were analyzed.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

In general, the digital economy plays an important role in the achievement of sustainable economic development, creation of a favourable investment climate, increase in income, and improvement of the welfare of the population. The digital economy is a very broad concept and it refers to the digitalization of the economy as a whole. However, it is based on infrastructure and the intensity of the use of Internet technology. To what extent do the EU countries differ in terms of availability and use of Internet technology? What trends occur in the dynamics of disparities in the level of use of Internet technology in the EU countries? In relation to the abovementioned questions, it is necessary to monitor and analyse the level of use of Internet technology in various EU countries in dynamics. The purpose of the research is to assess the level of use of Internet technology in the EU as a basis of the digital economy, as well as to assess disparities in the use of Internet technology in the EU in the period 2012-2020.