Evaluation of Sustainable Development in the Member States of the European Union. Ocena poziomu zrównoważenia rozwoju krajów Unii Europejskiej

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1 PROBLEMY EKOROZWOJU PROBLEMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2015, vol. 10, no 2, Evaluaton of Sustanable Development n the Member States of the European Unon Ocena poomu równoważena rowoju krajów Un Europejskej Barbara Bujanowc-Haraś*, Paweł Janulewc*, Anna Nowak**, Artur Krukowsk** *Unwersytet Pryrodncy w Lublne, Wydał Agrobonżyner, Katedra Zarądana Marketngu, ul. Akademcka 13, Lubln, Polska E-mals: barbara.bujanowc-haras@up.lubln.pl; pawel.janulewc@up.lubln.pl **Unwersytet Pryrodncy w Lublne, Wydał Agrobonżyner, Katedra Ekonom Agrobnesu, ul. Akademcka 13, Lubln, Polska, E-mals: anna.nowak@up.lubln.pl, artur.krukowsk@up.lubln.pl Abstract Ths study evaluates the level of sustanable n 28 member states of the European Unon n Research was carred out based on the so-called Hellwg s model method, whch enabled the constructon of a synthetc measure of sustanable. It s based on ndcators related to economc, socal and envronmental governance, as used n the European Unon. The adopted method made t possble to evaluate the studed phenomenon as a whole, provdng grounds for assgnng the member states nto four unform groups charactersed by a smlar level of. Group I, showng the hghest level of sustanable, comprsed Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovena, Denmark, Austra, and Fnland. Conversely, Portugal, Bulgara, Romana and Hungary were assgned to group IV. Key words: the European Unon, sustanable, Hellwg pattern Strescene W opracowanu dokonano oceny poomu rowoju równoważonego w 28 krajach cłonkowskch Un Europejskej w latach Badana preprowadono w oparcu o metodę tw. worca rowoju Hellwga, która umożlwła skonstruowane syntetycnego mernka rowoju równoważonego. Bauje on na stosowanych w Un Europejskej wskaźnkach, dotycących ładu gospodarcego, społecnego ora środowskowego. Zastosowana metoda powolła na kompleksową ocenę badanego jawska, dając podstawę do podału krajów cłonkowskch na ctery jednorodne grupy charakteryujące sę podobnym poomem rowoju. Do grupy I, o najwyżsym poome rowoju równoważonego aklasyfkowano Swecję, Luksemburg, Słowenę, Danę, Austrę Fnlandę. W grupe IV nalały sę natomast Portugala, Bułgara, Rumuna Węgry. Słowa klucowe: Una Europejska, rowój równoważony, worec rowoju Hellwga Introducton In 1987 the Unted Natons World Commsson on Envronment and Development publshed Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) contanng a catalogue of rsks and challenges for the future desrable of cvlaton (Maur-Werbcka, 2005). Accordng to a defnton n the report: sustanable s that meets the needs of the present

2 72 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, wthout compromsng the ablty of future generatons to meet ther own needs (WCED, 1987). In 1990 sustanable became a poltcal prncple n the European Unon. In 2001 n Gothenburg, the European Councl establshed a sustanable strategy (SDS) whch was renewed n 2006 and amed to meet the needs of the present wthout compromsng the ablty of future generatons to meet ther needs. Ths dea was also ncorporated n the strategy Europe 2020 proposed by the European Commsson (2010). Apart from the above-mentoned strateges t s also present n many other Communty documents and ntatves (Kryk, 2012). Ths study ams at evaluatng the level of sustanable n the member states of the European Unon. It was assumed, accordng to the defnton of sustanable, that mprovement n the lfe qualty and wellbeng of the present and future generatons can be attaned by an ntegrated approach to economc, envronmental protecton and socal justce. The startng pont for the studes was the ndcators covered by EU s methodology grouped nto ten thematc areas. Materals and method of research sustanable of 28 member states of the European Unon was determned by means of one of the most popular taxonomc methods Hellwg s taxonomc model. The study materal was data from the Eurostat database. At the frst stage of the study procedure, the ndcators were ntally selected based on lterature research (Borys, 2005; Wskaźnk, 2011; Bal-Domańska, Wlk, 2011; Sustanable, 2013; Gettng, 2013). 52 dagnostc varables were selected and verfed aganst complance wth formal crtera. Out of ths group 46 varables elgble wth the ndcated crtera were classfed for further nvestgaton. At the next stage statstcal crtera were taken nto account and quasconstants for whch the coeffcent of varaton was lower than 10% were elmnated from the set of varables. Thus, the ndcators removed from the set of ndcators ncluded, for nstance: lfe expectancy n absolute value at brth females (V=2,60%), lfe expectancy n absolute value at brth males (V=4,80%)), healthy lfe years at brth n percentage of the total lfe expectancy males (V=5,60%), healthy lfe years at brth n percentage of the total lfe expectancy females (V=6,90%), Net natonal ncome at market prces % GDP (V=8,10%), duraton of workng lfe (V=8,40%), employment rate (20 to 64 years), employment rate by age and hghest level of educaton attaned (%) years (V=9,50%). Afterwards, based on the statstcal crtera, excessvely correlated varables were elmnated from the set accordng to Pearson's correlaton coeffcents matrx. They were not ncluded n further nvestgaton snce they carred dentcal nformatonal value. Ultmately 23 dagnostc varables were selected for the analyss evaluatng the level of sustanable n the member states of the EU. The varables were ncluded n the followng thematc groups: 1. Socoeconomc : x 1 - GDP aggregates per capta (Euro), x 2 - Real Effectve Exchange Rate (deflator: unt labour costs n the total economy - 37 tradng partners), 2. Sustanable consumpton and producton: x 3 - Waste generated - kg per capta, x 4 - Passenger cars per nhabtants, x 5 - Share of total organc crop area out of total Utlsed Agrcultural Area (%) 3. Socal ncluson: x 6 - Income quntle share rato (n %), x 7 - Long-term unemployment n % of actve populaton, x 8 - Gender pay gap n unadjusted form (n %), x 9 - Early leavers from educaton and tranng years, x 10 - Partcpaton rate n educaton and tranng (last 4 weeks) years (n %), x 11 - Expendture on educaton as % of GDP (2011). 4. Demographc changes: x 12 - Employment rate of older workers (55 to 64 years) (n %), x 13 - Fertlty ndcators - total fertlty rate ( n %), x 14 - At-rsk-of-poverty rate by poverty threshold, 65 years or older - % of total populaton (n %), x 15 - Government consoldated gross debt ( % of GDP). 5. Publc health: x 16 - Death rate due to chronc dseases - per persons, x 17 - Self-reported unmet needs for medcal examnaton (%). 6. Clmate change & Energy, Natural resources, Sustanable transport: x 18 - Greenhouse Gas Emssons (CO2 equvalent - thousand tones), x 19 - Ar polluton (Tonnes), x 20 - Protected areas for bodversty: Habtats Drectve - Area - km 2 (2013), x 21 - Share of renewable energy n transport (n %), x 22 - Share of renewable energy n electrcty (n %), x 23 - Share of renewable energy n heatng and coolng (n %). Among the selected varables features such as x 3, x 6, x 7, x 8, x 9, x 14, x 15, x 16, x 17, x 18, x 19, x 20 were consdered to be smaller-the-better (STB) character-

3 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, X Table 1. Statstcal characterstcs of dagnostc varables for EU member states, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to Varable Mean Mnmum Maksmum Standard devaton Coeffcent of varaton [%] x (Bulgara) (Luxembourg) ,99 x2 104,82 86,75 (Unted Kngdom) 141,11 (Bulgara) 12,70 12,12 x3 469, (Romana) 668 (Denmark) 119,21 25,40 x4 463, (Romana) 665 (Luxembourg) 101,18 21,81 x5 6,56 0,3 (Malta) 18,6 (Austra) 4,80 73,21 x6 4,78 3,4 (Slovena) 6,6 (Greece) 1,01 21,15 x7 5,10 1,1 (Austra) 14,5 (Greece) 3,40 66,59 x8 14,9 2,5 (Slovena) 30 (Estona) 6,54 43,87 x9 10,99 4,2 (Croata) 24,7 (Span) 5,18 47,10 x10 10,03 1,4 (Romana) 31,6 (Denmark) 7,63 76,09 x11 5,76 3,07 (Romana) 14,09 (Greece) 2,13 36,98 x12 47,50 32,9 (Slovena) 73 (Sweden) 9,95 20,94 x13 1,58 1,28 (Portugal) 2,01 (Span) 0,23 14,59 x14 15,5 5,5 (Netherlands) 29,3 (Cyprus) 6,11 39,41 x15 68,36 9,7 (Estona) 156,9 (Greece) 35,10 51,35 x16 132,05 79,2 (Sweden) 257,3 (Hungary) 49,95 37,83 x17 4,94 0,1 (Slovena, Unted Kngdom) 23,5 (Latva) 5,98 121,11 x (Malta) (Germany) ,22 x (Luxembourg) (Span) ,46 x (Malta) (France) ,75 x21 3,84 0 (Cyprus) 12,9 (Sweden) 2,96 77,04 x22 23,52 1 (Malta) 66,5 (Austra) 16,79 71,39 x23 22,66 2,3 (Unted Kngdom) 65,7 (Sweden) 15,57 68,71 stcs 1. Among the selected varables features such as x 3, x 6, x 7, x 8, x 9, x 14, x 15, x 16, x 17, x 18, x 19, x 20 were consdered to be smaller-the-better (STB) characterstcs reducng the synthetc measure of sustanablty, whereas the rest were regarded as larger-the-better (LTB) characterstcs havng a postve nfluence on the sad measure. For the selected features statstcal characterstcs were determned as llustrated n Table 1. The table presents a dsparty regardng respectve varables between dfferent member states of the European Unon, expressed as the mnmum values, mean value and coeffcent of varaton. The coeffcent of varaton for the ndcators used n the analyss ranged from 12% to more than 142%. The hghest varaton was recorded for factors charactersng envronmental aspects, e.g. ar polluton (V=142.46%) and greenhouse gas emssons (V=137.22%). On the 1 Smaller-the-better characterstc are varables for whch low values are desrable from the pont of vew of a gven phenomenon, whereas hgher values are undesrable. By contrast, larger-the-better characterstcs are varables for whch low values are undesrable from the pont of vew other hand, the varable descrbng the actual exchange rate where the coeffcent of varaton was 12.12% showed the least varaton. Determnaton of the level of sustanable n the member states of the EU by means of Hellwg s model method In the course of nvestgaton 28 EU member states were classfed accordng to the level of sustanable. The classfcaton was based on Hellwg s model method 2 wth regard to the fact that t synthesses factors of varous nature (dervng from dfferent sources) and assgns them a sngle synthetc aggregate measure (Mka, 1995). Ths method s also referred to as guded recognton (Kselńska, 2008). Used n the performed analyses t allowed a comparson between all member states of a gven phenomenon, whereas hgher values are desrable. 2 It s a model formula of aggregaton of varables based on the constructed model object, the so-called model created on the grounds of the optmum varables (the most favourable n the entre populaton).

4 74 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, of the European Unon provdng grounds for classfyng them nto unform groups charactersed by a smlar level of sustanable. Pror to constructng the synthetc varables, the smaller-the-better characterstcs were transformed nto larger-the-better characterstcs accordng to the followng formula (Ostasewc, 1999): x j 1 x j and then the features were standardsed j (Bąk, 2007) accordng to the formula: xj x j j, where: object number, j fea- s ture number. Such transformed features were subjected to the model method whch assumes the exstence of a model (reference) object wth reference to whch the taxonomc dstances between the nvestgated objects are determned. Ths study determnes the dstance of each object from the set model by means of the taxcab metrc, where: d m j 0 j, j 1 The resultng d values were used for computng Hellwg s synthetc measure of : The ndcator assumes values wthn the range <0;1>, whereas values closer to one are closer to the model and so are assocated wth a hgh level of the nvestgated object. Next, values were arranged n a lnear manner n descendng order and based on ths arrangement typologcal unt classes were dentfed wth four dsjont subsets of smlar objects as follows (Mka, 1995): Group I: s, group II: group III: group IV: s, s, s where: - arthmetc mean, s - standard devaton of the taxonomc measure of. Accordng to the values of the ndcator the member states were assgned to one of the four groups wth regard to ther level of sustanable. Group I conssted of member states wth the hghest whle group IV was wth the lowest level of sustanable. sustanable n the EU member states was evaluated based on all 23 varables, and the outcomes of the analyss were recorded n Table 2. The hghest synthetc evaluaton of the level of sustanablty was awarded to 6 member states assgned to group I Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovena, Denmark, Austra and Fnland. Group II conssted of 4 member states representng an out- Table 2. Classfcaton of EU member states accordng to the value of the synthetc measure descrbng the level of sustanable, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to Group number The number of countres n the group I 6 II 4 III 14 IV 4 The level of measurement above 0,34274 from 0, to 0, from 0,17137 to 0, below 0, The member states of the European Unon Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovena, Denmark, Austra, Fnland Malta, Estona, Netherlands, Cech Republc Latva, Unted Kngdom, France, Slovaka, Germany, Belgum, Lthuana, Italy, Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Croata, Span, Greece Portugal, Bulgara, Romana, Hungary Table 3. Mean values of varables descrbng the level of sustanable n terms of socal and economc governance, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to sustanable Socoeconomc x1 I group ,03 II group ,07 III group ,43 IV group ,59 standng level of sustanable,.e. Malta, Estona, the Netherlands and the Cech Republc. Group III, dsplayng an average level of sustanable, was at the same tme the most numerous one as t conssted of 14 member states: Latva, the Unted Kngdom, France, Slovaka, Germany, Belgum, Lthuana, Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Croata, Span and Greece. Group IV, charactersed by the lowest level of sustanable among the member states of the European Unon, conssted of 4 countres,.e. Portugal, Bulgara, Romana and Hungary. Consderng ndcators whch characterse socal and economc governance n the area of the GDP per capta (x 1) dagnostc varable, a sgnfcant nequalty was observed between group I for whch the mean value exceeded euro, and groups II and III wth ncome reachng the level of about 22 thousand euro. The lowest GDP per capta was recorded n the member states representng group IV charactersed by the lowest level of sustanable wth x2

5 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, the grand mean 3 beng 9575 euro per person only. It s worth emphassng that, accordng to economsts, GDP s an unquestonable measure of the level of of a country (Kacyńska, 2001). On the other hand, sustanable and an ncrease n welfare are not conflctng deas but rather the frst one emphases the necessty to optmse management n terms of reducng the consumpton of raw materals, energy and water and mnmsng the negatve mpact of busness actvty on the envronment and buldng up the sprtual dmenson n the realm of human lfe (Kubcek, 2014). Thus, a more than 4-fold dfference n the mean value of the dscussed measure between the two extreme typologcal groups ponts to a strong nequalty n the sustanablty of respectve member states of the EU wth respect to socal and economc. No sgnfcant nequaltes between respectve groups were recorded for the actual exchange rate (x 2) ndcator facltatng the evaluaton of whether a specfc country s cost compettve n comparson to others. However, t s worth notng that the lowest total mean value (101.43) of that ndcator was recorded n group III, whle the hghest (114.07) n group II. Groups I and IV both showed smlar values about 106. Table 4. Mean values of varables descrbng the level of sustanable n terms of sustanable producton and consumpton, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to sustanable Sustanable producton and consumpton x3 x4 x5 I group 535,33 533,83 10,07 II group 432,00 491,50 7,73 III group 472,64 464,64 5,78 IV group 396,50 329,00 2,85 Accordng to the Eurostat methodology another group of ndcators evaluatng the level of sustanable ncludes varables llustratng sustanable producton and consumpton (Table 4). The results of the nvestgaton ndcate that the ncreasng volume of producton waste (x 3) and the ncreasng number of passenger cars per 1000 ctens (x 4) are accompaned by an ncrease n the level of sustanable. A smlar relatonshp s observed n case of the share of ecologcal crops n the overall cropland (x 5) where an ncrease n such a share s connected wth an ncrease n the level of sustanable. At the same tme t s worth notng that nequalty n ths area between group I and IV s nearly 350%. In turn, the level of socal ntegraton fosterng sustanable was determned by means of 6 ndcators (Table 5). The frst ndcator s the quntle share (x 6), whch, for the purposes of ths study, s a smaller-the-better characterstc wth regard to the fact that t characterses unequal dstrbuton of ncome wthn the populaton. Accordng to the research conducted the level of sustanable of a specfc member state s hgher when the nequalty of the ctens' ncome s lower. Ths means that reducton n related nequaltes fosters sustanable. A smlar relatonshp was noted for a varable descrbng long-term unemployment n the economcally actve populaton (x 7). Ths ndcator reached the lowest value (2.03%) for ctens of member states from group I, often presentng the hghest level of economc, and ts hghest value (5.63%) was noted n group IV charactersed by the lowest level of sustanable. The problem of socal nequalty n the EU, ncludng the dsparty n the dstrbuton of ncome, was rased n the document publshed by the European Commsson (2010) enttled Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustanable and nclusve growth. The document sets three general prortes for the European Unon: smart, sustanable and nclusve growth. Ths problem was also undertaken by I. Bal (2012) who clamed n her studes that there s a relatonshp between the level of ncome nequalty and the share of ctens at rsk of poverty n the populaton. The above-named author suggests that the largest nternal varatons n the level of ncome are observed n Portugal, Lthuana and Latva. Table 5. Mean values of varables descrbng the level of sustanable n terms of socal ncluson Source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to Socal ncluson sustanable x6 x7 x8 x9 x10 x11 I group 3,93 2,03 14,43 7,60 20,77 6,16 II group 4,10 3,35 18,90 11,43 11,73 5,89 III group 5,11 6,77 13,98 11,04 6,66 5,98 IV group 5,55 5,63 14,83 15,48 4,05 4,22 socal ntegraton s also expressed as the gender pay gap (x 8). The results of nvestgaton show that ths feature had no strong nfluence on the dstrbuton of the EU member states n terms of the synthetc measure of sustanable. The hghest (18.9%) pay nequaltes were noted n group II, wth the lowest n group III (13.98%). Another feature determnng the level of sustanable wth the hghest mean value n group IV (15.48) s the share of early school leavers (x 9). At the same tme t must be emphassed that the lowest value (7.60%) was recorded for that ndcator n 3 The grand mean s computed based on the mean for 28 EU member states.

6 76 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, member states from group I. Related gudelnes are ncluded n the strategy Europe 2020 assumng a reducton n the number of early school leavers to 10%. Partcpaton n educaton (x 10) and share of expendture on educaton expressed as a % GDP (x 11) are subsequent varables n the socal ncluson area. The studes under dscusson found that a postve correlaton exsts between those varables and the synthetc measurement of the level of sustanable. Hgher expendture on educaton and a wder range of partcpaton of ctens n varous forms of educaton postvely translates nto sustanable growth. Table 6 presents four varables descrbng demographc changes whch have a sgnfcant mpact on the level of sustanable : rate of unemployment among elderly people (x 12), fertlty rate (x 13), at-rsk-of-poverty rate (x 14) and general government gross debt (x 15). Table 6. Mean values of varables descrbng the level of sustanable n terms of demographc changes Source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to Demographc changes sustanable x12 x13 x14 x15 I group 51,50 1,67 15,17 48,58 II group 50,78 1,54 11,50 47,40 III group 46,25 1,60 16,43 83,89 IV group 42,63 1,41 16,75 64,65 Across typologcal groups an ncrease n the rate of economc actvty of elderly people (x 12) s observed. Another feature descrbng demographc changes s the rate of fertlty (x 13) reachng the hghest value (1.67) n group I and the lowest (1.41) n group IV. Ths can be explaned by the fact that an ncrease n s also accompaned by an ncrease n the level of socal welfare orented at helpng famles and promotng safe maternty whch fosters an ncrease n the rate of fertlty wthn the specfc communty. Takng the at-rsk-of-poverty rate (x 14) nto account, t s dffcult to dentfy a clear relatonshp between ths feature and the level of sustanable. The lowest value of the dscussed ndcator (11.5%) was noted n group II and the hghest n group IV (16.75%). The last feature descrbng the demographc aspect s publc expendture on state-funded pensons whch ncreases publc debt (x 15). The results of the nvestgaton ndcate that the above-mentoned ndcator had no sgnfcant nfluence on the dstrbuton of the member states across the dentfed typologcal groups. However, t s worth notng that n group I and II t s relatvely low (ca. 48%), whle n group III t was hgher than 83%. Varables descrbng the relatonshp between the evaluaton of the level of sustanable aganst the level of qualty and access to health care servces are presented n Table 7. Accordng to the analyss carred out, a downward trend n death rate due to chronc dseases (x 16) s assocated wth an ncrease n the evaluaton of the level of sustanable and classfcaton of the specfc member state to a hgher group. An dentcal relatonshp was noted for reported but not satsfed medcal requrements (x 17). Table 7. Mean values of varables descrbng the level of sustanable n terms of qualty and access to health care servces, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to sustanable x16 Publc health x17 I group 102,52 0,90 II group 121,63 1,28 III group 130,56 6,19 IV group ,25 The last area charactersng sustanable comprsed features descrbng clmate change, natural resources and sustanable transport (Table 8). Due to the lack of many current fgures allowng a descrpton of sustanablty characterstcs for respectve categores, the ndcators were ncluded n one group. Table 8. Mean values of varables dentfyng the level of sustanable n terms of clmate change, natural resources and sustanable transport, source: own elaboraton based on data from Eurostat pertanng to The level of sustanable Clmate change & Energy, Natural resources, Sustanable transport x18 x19 x20 x21 x22 x23 I group ,28 38,45 35,87 II group ,50 9,73 19,33 III group ,76 20,42 17,24 IV group ,33 25,78 25,15 These authors own studes have shown that the hghest greenhouse gas emssons ( thousand tonnes) (x 18) were recorded n member states from group III, whle the lowest emssons (46836 thousand tonnes) were found n member states from group I. Analogous relatonshps were noted n terms of ar polluton (x 19). In turn, the dstrbuton of the feature descrbng the se of areas protected for bodversty conservaton (x 20) n respectve typologcal groups s vared and does not allow statng a clear relatonshp between ts level and the level of sustanable. Wth reference to the share of renewable energy n transport (x 21) t was observed that the share of RES n transport has a postve nfluence on a hgher ratng of sustanable of the specfc member state. Analysng the latter two varables,.e. share of renewable energy n electrcty generaton

7 Bujanowc-Haraś et al./problemy Ekorowoju/Problems of Sustanable Development 2/2015, (x 22) and share of renewable energy n heatng and coolng (x 23), the hghest level of these ndcators was recorded n member states representng group I. Ths means that these member states are the fastest n reducng ther dependency on fossl fuels, at the same tme meetng the assocated regulatons of the European Commsson. Conclusons The nvestgaton carred out made t possble to determne the level of sustanable n 28 member states of the EU n Three reasons must be ndcated for whch these studes make a sgnfcant contrbuton to lterature concernng sustanable. Frst, partal ndcators used for the purposes of ths study comprse a wde selecton of varables descrbng socal, economc and envronmental aspects of sustanablty. These varables are consstent wth the Eurostat methodology used to evaluate the level of sustanable. Secondly, the constructon of a synthetc measure enabled a smultaneous evaluaton of the level of sustanablty of respectve member states n all the man areas related to human lfe and actvty. The thrd sgnfcant characterstc of these studes s ther wde subjectve range comprsng 28 member states of the European Unon. The use of the taxonomc method (Hellwg s model) allowed the classfcaton of respectve member states nto one of four groups dentfed based on ther sustanable level. Group I representng the hghest level of sustanable conssts of 6 EU member states,.e. Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovena, Denmark, Austra and Fnland. Group II conssted of Malta, Estona, the Netherlands and the Cech Republc. Group III was the most numerous as t conssted of 14 member states (Latva, the Unted Kngdom, France, Slovaka, Germany, Belgum, Lthuana, Italy, Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Croata, Span and Greece). In group IV, representng the lowest level of sustanable, conssted of Portugal, Bulgara, Romana and Hungary. Analysng the mean values of respectve factors n the member states representng the hghest level of sustanable, for 18 out all 23 nvestgated varables they are the most favourable (the hghest for the larger-the-better characterstcs and the lowest for the smaller-the-better characterstcs) compared to the grand mean. The country charactersed by the hghest level of sustanable s Sweden, whch had the most favourable values for 4 out of all 23 features: rate of employment of elderly people 72%, mnmum values of death rate due to chronc dseases per persons only 79, maxmum values of the share of renewable energy n transport (12.9%) and the share of renewable energy n heatng and coolng (65.7%). In group IV, representng the lowest level of sustanable, 12 out of 23 nvestgated features had very unfavourable values compared to the grand mean. A country wth the lowest evaluaton of the level of sustanable among all the nvestgated member states was Hungary for whch ndcator amounted to only. That country recorded the hghest (257.3%) rate of death due to chronc dseases. The method appled revealed a sgnfcant dsparty between sustanable n the nvestgated member states of the EU. The results obtaned support the usefulness of synthetc measures for evaluatng the level of sustanable. Nevertheless, lmtatons to ther nterpretaton must be taken nto account. The proposed approach to the evaluaton of sustanable must be consdered as one of the many alternatve methods of analysng the nvestgated ssue whch can add to a wde selecton of nstruments used so far. In addton, when analysng the presented results the specfc characterstcs of respectve member states and ther nternal varaton (terrtoral coheson) must also be taken nto consderaton. References 1. BAL I., 2012, Margnalacja wyklucene społecne jako barera rowoju regonalnego, n: Nerównośc Społecne a Wrost Gospodarcy, no 28, p BAL-DOMAŃSKA B., WILK J., 2011, Gospodarce aspekty równoważonego rowoju wojewódtw welowymarowa anala porównawca, n: Pregląd Statystycny, vol. LVIII, no 3-4, p BĄK I., 2007, Atrakcyjność regonów turystycnych w Polsce e scególnym uwględnenem warunków ekologcnych, n: Statystyka w praktyce społecno-gospodarcej, ed. Ostasewc W., AE we Wrocławu, Wrocław, p BORYS T. (ed.), 2005, Wskaźnk równoważonego rowoju, Ekonoma Środowsko, Warsawa-Bałystok. 5. EUROPEAN COMMISION, 2010, Europe 2020, A European Strategy for Smart and Inclusve Growth, Brussels. 6. EUROSTAT, Gettng messages across usng ndcators. A handbook based on experences from assessng Sustanable Development Indcators, europa.eu/eurostat/documents / /KS-GQ EN.PDF ( ). 7. EUROSTAT, Sustanable n the European Unon montorng report of the EU sustanable strategy, ( ).

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