The Analysis of Public Funds Utilization Efficiency for Climate Neutrality in the European Union Countries

The aim of this article was to assess the efficiency of the utilization of public funds for climate neutrality. It was concluded that the data gathered in public statistics are not adapted to current challenges and hinder the direct measurement of climate policy objective implementation progress. Due to that, an innovative approach to public intervention efficiency analysis was proposed for the sake of decreasing CO2 emission in 27 European Union (EU) countries, based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and soft modeling. Statistical data are derived from the Eurostat database and pertain to the years 2005–2019. It was demonstrated that activity efficiency of the particular EU countries on climate neutrality varied and that together with the increase in public funds spent on environmental protection, the growth of effects in the field of reaching climate neutrality objectives was not observed. The greatest positive impact on achieving climate neutrality objectives was revealed for activities connected with building renewable sources of energy (RES) and there was no correlation detected for expenditures connected with transport infrastructure, which means that public funds used for their construction did not influence climate neutrality. It was established that, in the analyzed period, the decisions on allocating public funds were not taken on the basis of the expected amount of reduction in relation to the volume of outlays. In order to track the reasons for detected inefficiency, 52 projects were analyzed within the case study, which covered 3738 investments in the replacement of heating sources in one region of Poland. It was revealed that the efficiency of those investments varies; however, due to the full availability of data of the acquired results and outlays devoted to them, a synthetic index of efficiency measurement was established that presents the amount of CO2 reduction for EUR 1. When comparing the analyses carried out on macro and micro scales, it was observed that on the scale of the EU, there is a lack of uniform measurements or benchmarks of projects in the field of CO2 emissions reduction. Meanwhile, from the whole EU’s perspective, it should be reasonable to undertake projects with the highest economic efficiency, irrespective of political and geographical aspects. The results obtained should be utilized by decision-makers to elaborate reference methodologies and good practices in order to successfully implement climate objectives and especially the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). What should be established are universal, on the EU scale, measurements and rules for gathering and counting data as well as benchmarks for the particular project types.

Evolutionary Game Analysis of Responding to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

The European Union (EU) views the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as a measure to tackle carbon leakage, which will have a profound impact on non-EU countries’ exports. Policymakers are faced with the question of how to deal with the CBAM. In contrast to previous studies, we explore the effects of the CBAM on non-EU countries from a dynamic game perspective. This study analyzed the potential effects of the CBAM on China and found that the government and export companies are the two main stakeholders. We found that they can both choose whether to respond actively or passively. Based on their interactive relationship, we adopted an evolutionary game to model the nexus between the government and export companies. We analyzed the evolutionary stable state of each stakeholder and the whole game with the replicator dynamic equation system. To make the system evolve to the optimal state where the government reacts actively and export companies implement low-carbon production, we provide a policy mechanism for how to set key parameters’ values. We used numerical simulation to verify the policy design and to conduct sensitivity analyses of the key parameters. Our results show that, when two stakeholders positively react to the CBAM, it is necessary to increase their profits and to reduce their costs. Therefore, some suggestions are proposed, including optimizing the trade structure, strengthening cooperation with the EU, improving the current carbon market, and adopting carbon tax.

Workforce Participation, Ageing, and Economic Welfare: New Empirical Evidence on Complex Patterns across the European Union

The ageing population has become one of the major issues, with manifold consequences upon the economic welfare and elderly living standards satisfaction. This paper grasps an in-depth assessment framework of the ageing phenomenon in connection with the labor market, with significant implications upon economic welfare, across the European Union (EU–27). We configure our research on four distinctive groups of the EU–27 countries based on the Active Ageing Index mapping, during 1995–2018, by acknowledging the different intensities of ageing implications on economic well-being from one group of countries to another. The methodological endeavor is based on Structural Equation Modelling. Empirical results highlight that the ageing dimensions and labor market productivity notably shape the socioeconomic development of EU countries, visibly distinguished across the four panels. The economic development induced remarkable positive spillover effects on the welfare of older people, under the influence of the ageing credentials and dynamic shaping factors. Our research advances the literature underpinnings on this multifaceted topic by investigation made on specific groups of the EU countries and distinctive strategies proposed for each group of countries, as effective results for improving the well-being of older people. Constant policy rethinking and adequate strategies should be a top priority for each specific group of EU countries, to further sustain the ageing phenomenon, with positive implications mostly on elderly welfare.

The Efficiency of Health Systems in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the EU Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the insufficient capacities and capabilities of countries around the world to deal with global infectious diseases and stressed the need to improve the international health security frame-work. An efficient and comprehensive health system that is able to cope with public health emergencies is an essential prerequisite for strengthening health security. The paper analyzes the efficiency of health systems in the European Union (EU) countries and their responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research covers 27 EU countries and it is based on the secondary data contained in the 2019 Global Health Security Index Re-port. The aim of the paper is to identify key determinants for improving the efficiency of health systems in the EU, as well as to examine the interdependence between health expenditures and the efficiency of health system in this sample of countries. The research is conducted through descriptive statistics and correlation and regression analysis. The conclusions can be useful for the EU policy makers in formulating a strategy to improve the efficiency of Member States’ health systems and preparedness for possible new pandemics.

Strategic and Legal Framework of Torrential Flood Control in Some Western Balkan and EU Countries

The EU countries are obliged to harmonize their legislation in the field of flood protection, and thus torrential floods, in accordance with the Water Framework Directive (WFD) which was adopted in 2000. Two EU countries, Austria and Italy, and three Western Balkan countries were selected for the strategic and legal framework of torrential flood control: Serbia, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to the legal framework of torrential flood control in EU countries, policies and strategies related to this area were studied for comparative analysis with non-EU countries. The strategic framework for the protection of water resources, and in particular torrential flood protection, is lacking in all Western Balkan countries. The aim of this chapter is to determine the directions of future strategic directions and torrential flood control policies in the Western Balkans based on the experiences of EU countries, advantages and disadvantages of the existing strategic, and legal frameworks.

The Migration Crisis and the Problems of “Soft Security” in Germany

The current migration crisis has far-reaching challenges for EU countries. Global migration is forcing countries to completely reconsider their migration policies, the effectiveness of control, and the integration of migrants. As one of the EU's leading countries, Germany is the biggest lobbyist for the establishment of a common migration policy in the EU. This chapter contributes to the academic discussion on establishing a single mechanism for managing migration flows in the European Union. The analysis confirms that EU countries are faced with the need to find new ways to resolve the migration crisis. In this direction, Germany has become the country where one can trace the uniqueness of the political phenomenon of integration of migrants into the host community as a measure to overcome the migration crisis. The evidence reveals the growth of threats for national, regional, and international security caused by the growing migration crisis and transformation of the policy of integration of migrants in Germany under the influence of this factor.