Evaluation of Eco-Innovation and Green Economy in EU Countries

Abstract

A businesses with a green label is associated with resources that are sustainable. This business is linked to the green economy, which can be described as a form of economy that is responsible in relation to the environment and economic growth, and thus complementary. In this type of economy, viable products are created, but also solutions and practices that take the environment into account. It is well known that eco-innovation activities are closely linked to the development of an eco-business. The research sample consisted of 10 countries, namely the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and Finland, which were selected by purposive sampling. In this article, we look at eco innovations in selected countries, specifically ranking them, where we have divided countries into different levels, from countries that are at the super eco-innovation level, to countries that are in the middle zone, to countries that are significantly lagging in this trend. To classify countries into each level, we looked at the following variables: eco-innovation inputs, eco-innovation activities, environmental outcomes, socio-economic outcomes, and the eco-innovation index itself. Taking these sub-results into account, we determined where countries are, in other words, which level they have reached. We found that there are significant differences between countries. As we conclude, there are several reasons for this, but one of them is the lack of communication, coordination, and synergy between institutions, government, and SMEs, which are the drivers of eco-innovation. The supporting quantitative data collection method was data collection and structured observation, which is more precise and therefore provides more detailed information about the reality under study. For the purpose of this thesis, data were obtained from the Statistical Office of the European Union, that is, Eurostat, which is responsible for publishing pan-European statistics and indicators that allowed us to compare countries. In the survey, we compared the five most recent years for which Eurostat data were available, namely 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The overall score of a European Union member state is calculated as the unweighted average of 16 sub-indicators. It shows how well each Member State performs in terms of eco-innovation compared to the European Union average of 100.