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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1467370
This article is part of the Research Topic Sustainable Energy Governance in the Context of Global Climate Change: Technologies, Mechanisms and Strategies View all 9 articles

Development of environmental performance and circular economy in the European Union countries: The case of "post-2004" members

Provisionally accepted
Roman Lacko Roman Lacko 1Zuzana Hajduová Zuzana Hajduová 2*Raduz Dula Raduz Dula 1
  • 1 Faculty of Commerce,University of Economics in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • 2 Faculty of Business Management, University of Economics in Bratislava, Košice, Slovakia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The study aims to compare the environmental efficiency within the group of EU countries that joined the EU together in 2004 and to identify the common circular determinants of this efficiency. This study examines environmental efficiency among countries that joined the EU in 2004. Findings reveal that countries with a significant focus on services, particularly tourism, are more environmentally efficient.However, most countries are still heavily industry-oriented, with Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia being the least efficient. The study also highlights the need for significant efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Interestingly, a positive correlation was found between resource productivity and the rate of use of circular materials, suggesting the importance of circular economy tools in improving the environment. Despite having a higher material and consumption footprint, these countries still produce a relatively high product and relatively low CO2 emissions. Based on these analyses, we found regional differences and the need for setting cluster policies within the circular economy at the EU level.

    Keywords: environmental performance, European Union, Circular economy, late-joiners, data envelopment analysis

    Received: 19 Jul 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lacko, Hajduová and Dula. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zuzana Hajduová, Faculty of Business Management, University of Economics in Bratislava, Košice, Slovakia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.