Suchergebnisse

The European Union (EU) has launched two regional investment programs of European Funds (FE) in the last decade. One covers the period of 2007 to 2013, and the second from 2014 to 2020. Among the goals contained in FE regulations is that of achieving sustainable growth through the conversion of fossil energy production systems to renewable energy. This research has had a goal to determine whether the countries of the Eurozone maintain homogeneous levels of efficiency in the use of these resources to improve the levels of environmental quality related to the use of this type of energy. The adopted research method for efficiency analyses was Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Findings revealed that the efficiency in the use of renewable energies is very uneven among the analyzed countries and that these differences are maintained throughout the analyzed period. These results suggest that the criteria for the distribution of the funds should be modified. The current distribution is mainly based on the per capita income of the countries and/or regions. In this way, compliance with the European Green Pact approved in September 2020 would be guaranteed.

During the 2010–2020 period, the European Union (EU) launched a growth strategy based on three fundamental pillars: Smart growth, sustainable growth, and inclusive growth. Aiming to finance the projects related to these growth pillars, the EU used mainly the Rural Development Funds, the Structural Funds, those derived from the R&D Framework Program, the Trans-European Networks, and the European Investment Bank. This research aimed to determine whether the Spanish regions maintain homogeneous efficiency levels by using these resources to improve the levels of environmental quality related to renewable energies. A methodology that is frequently used by researchers in efficiency analyses was chosen, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The main findings revealed that the efficiency in the use of renewable energies is very uneven among the Spanish regions and these differences are maintained throughout the period analyzed. These results highlighted the need of changes regarding the proposed criteria for allocating European resources to finance the projects presented by each Spanish region