Analysis of European environmental policies: Improving decision making through eco-efficiency.

There is extensive literature that defines eco-efficiency as the efficiency with which ecological resources are used to satisfy human needs. It ensures production while consuming fewer natural resources and thus reduces the environmental impact. The aim of this work is to fill the gap in the literature by defining eco-efficiency in terms of production and deaths due to pollution. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist Index (MI) are used for this purpose. Both techniques are applied to 20 European countries during the period 2014–2018. In addition, the spatial dependence of eco-efficiency obtained in the DEA analysis is studied using geostatistical techniques. The results reveal the good performance of almost all European countries, which are conditioned neither by their wealth nor by their economic growth. Eastern European countries show the most room for improvement. Finally, the spatial dependence of eco-efficiency in Europe during the period 2014–2018 was confirmed by detecting a significant cluster of low eco-efficiency countries in Eastern Europe. Researchers and policymakers can benefit from the results to provide country-specific investment policies to achieve higher benefits towards eco-efficiency in Europe. • Eco-efficiency level in no way underlies changes in productivity. • Environmental policies are not conditioned by a country's wealth or economic growth. • The descriptive spatial study confirmed a spatial dependence in the eco-efficiency. • Eastern European countries must improve their eco-efficiency levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]