Romania needs a change of the current development paradigm to face the challenges of the 21st century. As a member of the European Union, leaders in Romania are is interested in implementing the principles of sustainable development at a national level to reduce development gaps, to increase citizens’ well-being, and to preserve a clean environment. The purpose of this research is to determine the implementation status of the 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals (SDG) in Romania and to explore to what extent Romania will be able to reach, for the 2030 horizon, EU average values for the selected indicators. The research is based on 107 indicators that monitored the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Eurostat database (sustainable development indicators) was the source of data in terms of their availability and integrity. The research results showed that the implementation status of SDG is sub-optimal. In the case of 40 indicators out of the 107 analyzed, forecasts indicate the possibility of reaching the EU average values by 2030. However, the country can remain on the path to sustainable development only by involving all stakeholders and increasing concrete and well-targeted measures to improve SDG indicators.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and firm market value for the companies from travel and tourism industry and, in the same time, to investigates the question if the association between good ESG scores for travel and tourism companies and their market value can be used as a performance predictor. The impact of extra-financial ESG performance on market value of the companies was estimated using the modified version of the Ohlson (1995) model, based on a sample of 73 listed companies, worldwide distributed, during the 2010–2015 period. The overall results of this research are consistent with the value enhancing theory (as opposed with the shareholder expense theory). From the ESG factors, the governance factor seems to have the most important influence on the market value of the selected companies, regardless of the geographic region where they are located. Thus, our findings provide new insights into the influence of each ESG factor on the market value of the companies, providing a useful tool for stakeholders to measure economic impact but also for use as a predictor of economic performance.

The present article deals with aspects related to the transition to a new model of economythe circular economya more appropriate model for the current tendencies of ensuring the sustainability of economic processes. Tourism, as an economic branch with strong dynamics in recent years, is one of the areas where resource conservation and environmental protection are of significant importance. Circular tourism, derived from the principles of circular economy, aims at recycling tourism resources and favoring the sustainable development of the environment, thus giving tourists a greater sense of responsibility. The authors sought to study the influence of the implementation of integrated quality-environment-security systems on the economic performance of hotel establishments in Romania from the perspective of industry managers, as a starting point for determining the applicability of the principles of circular economy in this sector. In order to study this influence, questionnaires were addressed to tourism operators in order to establish the existing link between the implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards and the economic, social and environmental performance of those operators. From the perspective of the systemic approach and analyzing the obtained data, the authors of the paper argue that the hotel industry in Romania is not yet sufficiently prepared to adopt the principles of the circular economy, the adoption of an integrated management system not having as much influence as believed on the performances of the operators in the field.

In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by adopting the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the European Green Deal, the European Union aims at an extremely ambitious goal to become climate neutral by 2050. This goal involves a massive investment plan to support this initiative, but also to reduce disparities between Member States, in order to transform the Union into a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the sustainable development and renewable energy sources relationship in EU countries from a new perspective. Based on Eurostat available data and with the help of hierarchical clustering analysis, the Member States were divided in 2019 into five clusters, highlighting the key characteristics of the selected variables. The results of this research revealed high-performing groups of countries, as well as countries that need increased attention and additional support to become more efficient in achieving their sustainable development goals and renewable energy source targets.

For the European Union, innovation and entrepreneurship are strong vectors to overcome global societal challenges from climate change and sustainable energy to food and healthy living. Innovation is a facilitator of entrepreneurship and a way of empowering people to take charge of their lives and economic prosperity. At the same time, entrepreneurship is the answer to innovation, the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship being undeniably interrelated. This research proposes assessing the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in EU countries in the context of sustainable development. With the help of hierarchical clustering analysis, EU countries were classified into four relevant clusters on the basis of the variables considered, which allowed the identification of common features and existing differences. The research was conducted using data provided by the Global Innovation Index, Global Entrepreneurship Index, Eurostat database, and Candriam ESG Country Report at the level of the 27 EU countries. The main results revealed high-performing countries in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship potential, providing relevant information for policy-makers, business practitioners, NGOs, and academics on the direction they need to take for good practice models to be adapted and implemented in countries with sub-optimal performance, to provide them with support for improvement of their innovation and entrepreneurship potential.