Nowadays, the issues of sustainable development are of great interest and importance, as countries, organisations, institutions worldwide are still searching for the right solutions leading to human well-being and life quality in a society socially acceptable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable, in an integrated vision between states and generations. Due to the difficulties of measuring such a complex, multi-dimensioned concept, one of the main questions refers to necessity and the possibility of determining countries'(tm) progress towards sustainable development. In this respect, there are a very large number of initiatives and efforts to develop the appropri¬ate indicators; yet, there is no one agreed method. In this generous context of analysis, the paper aims to offer some answers regarding Romania'(tm)s progress towards sustainable development, based on a comparative analysis within the European Union, using data provided by three of the most widely used indicators for measuring sustainable development: Human Development Index, Environmental Performance Index and Ecological Footprint. The research methodology uses the comparative analysis and synthesis of data, followed by a dissemination of the results in order to express a personal opinion on the topic. The research results are far from being optimistic, highlighting a serious gap between Romania and the other member states in terms of progress towards sustainable development. Therefore, they call for immediate action and increased efforts, so that European Union'(tm)s objectives of real cohesion and of becoming one of the global leaders in supporting sustainable development can be reached. The merit of this study is its contribution with an original research to the efforts of assessing Romania'(tm)s progress on the path to sustainable development, which may be particularly important for both researchers and policy makers. Due to some limitations induced by the methodology, the research opens the way for future studies, using complementary data and methodology.
