Is the European Union becoming more unified or more divided in its quest for sustainability?
This research utilizes advanced taxonomic methods to analyze the economic development of 27 EU member states through the lens of the Sustainable Development concept.
By comparing data from 2014 and 2019, the study reveals that spatial disproportions—the differences in wealth and sustainability between regions—are more pronounced today than ever before.
The findings explicitly argue that while energy plays a central role in driving growth, the benefits are not being distributed evenly across the Union. The researchers utilized the Hellwig and TOPSIS methods to rank and cluster countries, ultimately proving that current efforts are insufficient to bridge the gap between Member States.
The study concludes with a call for urgent, “pro-development” actions at both the national and EU levels to ensure that sustainable growth becomes a reality for every region, not just the front-runners.
Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.3390/en14227488
Reference
Jędrzejczak-Gas, J., Barska, A., & Wyrwa, J. (2021). Economic Development of the European Union in the Relation of Sustainable Development—Taxonomic Analysis. Energies, 14(22), 7488