Efficiency of Implementing Climate/Energy Targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Structural Diversity between Old and New Member States

Malgorzata Klaudia Guzowska,Barbara Kryk

doi:10.3390/en14248428

Malgorzata Klaudia Guzowska, Barbara Kryk

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248428

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Dec 14, 2021
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Szczecin

Abstract

The most important goals included in the Europe 2020 Strategy are climate/energy targets, which determine not only the achievement of its other goals but also climate neutrality by 2050. This article aims to assess the efficiency of implementing the climate/energy targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy and to analyse changes over time, taking into consideration the structural diversity between the old (EU 15) and new EU members (EU 13) in the period of 2014–2018. The assessment of changes in the efficiency of climate/energy targets over time adds value to the evaluation methods used to date in this area. This was done using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist index. Earlier works usually specified only the level of target achievement, mostly jointly in relation to all of the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The efficiency of their implementation at the macroeconomic level has not been studied. Furthermore, the added value of this paper consists in obtaining additional information concerning the internal structure and character of the studied efficiency of old and new member states. Changes in the efficiency level have been analysed with regard to the key climate/energy indicators used to monitor the Europe 2020 Strategy. Based on the results, the EU countries were divided into six groups with similar levels of efficiency in achieving energy and climate objectives and ranked using the DEA–Malmquist index according to changes in their level over time. This makes it possible not only to assess the performance of countries but also to formulate recommendations for decision-makers.

Highlights

IntroductionIts solution depends on close, original, and effective cooperation among all states
Global climate change is one of the fundamental problems of our time
To achieve the goal of the article, during the first stage of the research, four efficiency indicators for achieving climate/energy targets by European Union (EU) member states were calculated based on three input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) models (CRS, variable returns to scale (VRS), and non-increasing returns to scale (NIRS)) for all reference years, i.e., from 2014 to 2018, in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy

Summary

Introduction

Its solution depends on close, original, and effective cooperation among all states Meeting this condition has turned out to be most difficult, as evidenced by the unfulfilled climate and energy targets set in previous international agreements. The European Union (EU) has been engaged in implementing international climate/energy agreements for a long time now. The European Union (EU) has been engaged in implementing international climate/energy agreements for a long time As a community, it mostly reduced the global emission of greenhouse gasses, which made it a leader in fulfilling these obligations [1]. The EU undertook steps obliging its members to carry out proper actions to this end This has been expressed, for example, by the Europe 2020 Strategy valid between 2010 and 2020. The main goals, or rather a package of climate/energy targets corresponding to this priority (the so-called 3 × 20), were as follows:

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