Implementation of EU energy policy priorities in the Baltic sea region countries: sustainability assessment based on neutrosophic MULTIMOORA method

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has set ambitious goals for climate change and energy in its pursued policies (20% of renewable energy until 2020, 27% until 2030, and the aim to become the global leader in energy produced by renewable energy sources). Even more ambitious goals are established in the strategy of Energy 2050. Today European energy policy is oriented towards energy security, expansion of energy markets, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and scientific research and innovations. The broader aim of this policy is a radical shift away from the current energy system to introduce a new system which would ensure environmental consistency, affordability of consumer prices, and security of supply. The paper analyses the trends of energy development across the eight Baltic Sea Region (BSR) countries. The analysis covers the period of 2008–2015. The main aim of the paper is to compare BSR countries achievements in sustainable energy development. The aggregate measures of energy sustainability are devised utilising multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) MULTIMOORA (Multi- Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis) technique. The paper presents an original framework for sustainable energy development indicators. The EU energy policy priorities govern the choice of indicators of energy sustainability. The comparative assessment of BSR countries, based on neutrosophic MULTIMOORA technique, by applying indicators from the framework, indicated that the best-performing countries regarding the achievement of EU sustainable energy development goals during the research period were Denmark and Latvia. The findings of this research can give useful information to energy policy decision makers.