Evaluation of Sustainable Development in the Member States of the European Union

This study evaluates the level of sustainable development in 28 member states of the European Union in 2011-2013. Research was carried out based on the so-called Hellwig’s development model method, which enabled the construction of a synthetic measure of sustainable development. It is based on indicators related to economic, social and environmental governance, as used in the European Union. The adopted method made it possible to evaluate the studied phenomenon as a whole, providing grounds for assigning the member states into four uniform groups characterised by a similar level of development. Group I, showing the highest level of sustainable development, comprised Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Denmark, Austria, and Finland. Conversely, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary were assigned to group IV.