Sustainable development is indeed a complex phenomena, thus making the comparison and valuation of advances of EU-member states in the implementation of its objectives specifically difficult. The authors attempted to establish a synthetic measure of the level of sustainable development taking into account simultaneously three components: economic, social and environmental. It was aimed to compare particular countries by the mentioned measure and then grouping them. Relying on basis of content aspects the basics of research were "headline indicators" of sustainable development, sourced from the 2005-2012 research period formed the premise of the study. The study results demonstrate ongoing gradual advances being made in the implementation of concepts of sustainable development in EU-member states. Although there can be visible a gradual convergence of EU-member states in respect of their levels of sustainable development, nonetheless majority of countries still post indicators of sustainable development below the EU average, especially those which recently became members of the European Union.However, in respect of indicator X7share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption -EU countries were strongly differentiated in 2005, with the coefficient of variation almost reaching 90%. Leading countries in this case were Sweden (40.5%), Latvia (32.3%) and Finland (28.9%). The mean indicator level for the countries studied was 11.6%. The share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption in most EU countries was below the mean (right-handed asymmetry).Sweden, Latvia and Finland, in 2012, maintained their leadership position in the use of renewable energy sources. The lowest level of the X7 indicator was observed in Malta, Luxembourg and the UK, similar to the 2005 figures. The mean level of the indicator was 16.9% for the countries covered, while the EU countries continue to be strongly differentiated, with a coefficient of variation of about 70%.The lowest value of the X8 indicatorprimary energy consumptionfor 2005 was obtained in Malta, Cyprus and Latvia, while the highest was in Germany, France and the UK. EU countries were very strongly differentiated in terms of the values of the indicator, with a coefficient of differentiation of about 135%.The 2012 mean level for the primary energy consumption indicator for EU countries declined when compared with 2005, although neither the leading nor the bottom countries in the rating changed their positions as far as the X8 factor is concerned. The next headline indicator of sustainability in EU countries is X9energy consumption of transport relative to GDP (2000 = 100). Low levels of this indicator in 2005, when compared with 2000, were obtained in 16 EU countries. The leaders in this regard are Malta, Germany and the UK. The countries of Slovakia, Luxembourg and Austria occupied bottom positions in the national rating. When compared with 2000, low levels of indicator X9 were, in 2012, obtained in 21 EU countries. Greece, Ireland and Malta came out leaders ...

The European Union (EU), striving to create economic dominance on the global market, has prepared a comprehensive development programme, which initially was the Lisbon Strategy and then the Strategy Europe 2020. The attainment of the strategic goals included in the prospective development programmes shall transform the EU into the most competitive economy in the world based on knowledge. This paper presents a statistical evaluation of progress being made by EU member states in meeting Europe 2020. For the basis of the assessment, the authors proposed a general synthetic measure in dynamic terms, which allows to objectively compare EU member states by 10 major statistical indicators. The results indicate that most of EU countries show average progress in realisation of Europe’s development programme which may suggest that the goals may not be achieved in the prescribed time. It is particularly important to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020 to arrive at the right decisions which will guarantee the accomplishment of the EU’s development strategy.

The main aim of this research paper is to compare the total synthetic measure value of sustainable development for each EU country using a multidimensional comparative analysis of the EU countries in terms of sustainable development. The statistical evaluation of this complex phenomenon was based on 108 statistical indicators describing 17 goals of sustainable development which were taken from the Eurostat database. The statistical data applies mostly to the year 2018. The zero unitarization method was applied as a research tool. Passing through consecutive stages, the values of synthetic measures with variables determining the subsequent goals of sustainable development were set. Our study led to the ranking of EU countries into groups of high, medium-high, medium-low and low level of sustainable development. The results confirmed that the leaders of sustainable development in the EU are Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Austria. Most EU countries have reached the medium level, while Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus have poorly realized the goals of sustainable development. Due to the growing importance of countries of the Visegrad group in Europe, this article also subjected them to a more detailed assessment in terms of their sustainable development. Among the Visegrad countries, only the Czech Republic has reached a medium-high level of sustainable development. The other three countries, i. e. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, hold a similar position in the ranking of EU countries in terms of sustainable development. Considering future generations, the implementation of the goals of sustainable development as well as the identification of key indicators for each country are becoming an important challenge in terms of global market competitiveness.

The analysis and evaluation of levels of socioeconomic development in various countries has become of greater scientific and practical significance in recent years. This makes it possible to locate the position of a given country in a specific group, evaluate change dynamics or the impact of various determinants on the diversity of development. A country's economic development can be defined as the continuity of change in its socioeconomic life that results in improved living standards of its citizens as well as on the organization of structures and ongoing processes in the country. The authors have attempted to highlight the level of socioeconomic development in the EU between 2005 and 2010. The basis of the evaluation was the construction, from a dynamic perspective, of a general synthetic measure of socioeconomic development that takes account of different aspects of a country's socioeconomic development, namely, demographic and labour market potentials, economic as well as social and technical potentials. The various aspects of development were based on 27 diagnostic features chosen on the basis of merit and statistical formality. Particular attention was given to countries that gained the EU membership after 2004.

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