Towards sustainable development in post-transition European Union states

Even though the sustainable development concept has been largely debated in the literature and its essence is very clear, the way in which it is implemented differs between countries and regions. The main challenge for the European Union is to tackle the differences in the development level between and within the member states, especially in the countries that joined the EU in the 21st century. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the challenges and opportunities of the sustainable development in the post-transition European Union states, between 2010 and 2018. Although our results show that all the investigated states have made considerable progress in achieving a higher level of sustainable development during the analyzed period, the decision makers should take a more holistic long-term approach. This would involve closer cooperation between public sector, private sectors and nongovernmental organizations in taking environmental and socio-economic decisions.