Considering the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the sustainable development of a country, the main aim of this paper is to identify some macroeconomic factors that positively or negatively influence FDI in Visegrad group countries after the European Union (EU) enlargement in 2004. We employed two types of approaches in our analysis: i) time series and ii) panel data approach. According to the generalized ridge regressions estimated in Bayesian framework, the perceived corruption was a factor that influenced FDI in all the countries. In Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia corruption came through as a serious obstacle for FDIs since 2005, but this was not the case for Hungary. Even if Hungary is perceived as a country with high influence, foreign investors seem no to care about this fact and are more interested in the quality of human resources and the possibility to increase exports. Our panel approach based on a panel ARDL model identified a significant relationship between FDI, corruption index and labour force with advanced education however this causality was only detected in the long run. According to the Granger causality in panel, the attraction of FDI inflows succeeded in generating changes in total tax rate, but the issues related to corruption were not reduced at an acceptable level for foreign investors in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Energy efficiency, development of renewable energy resources, decarbonization, and energy security are the key energy policy priorities of the European Union and China. Based on data for the period 2005-2016, this study compares the status of energy sector development sustainability among 21 European Union Member States and China by applying the several Multi-Criteria Decision Making methods. Seven Member States including United Kingdom were excluded from the analysis due to Brexit or entering EU late like Croatia or due to small size as Malta and Cyprus and so forth. The results of Multi-Criteria Decision analysis indicated that Romania, Czech Republic, and Latvia performed the best during this period in terms of approaching toward sustainable energy development targets. These countries have implemented effective policies and measures to increase energy efficiency and use of renewables leading to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and increase in security of energy supply during the investigated period. New Member States have better assessment of effectiveness of energy policies pursuing 20-20-20 targets than old Member States. China lag behind European Union countries in terms of sustainability of energy sector however, during investigated period the country has achieved very good progress and can learn a lot from European experience as suggested by policy implications developed in this paper.