The current paper evaluates the impact of corruption and rent-seeking behaviors upon economic wealth in the European Union states using a public choice approach. The period of study is 2000 to 2019. To measure this impact, the present study uses a regression with variables reflecting governance quality and considered relevant, from a public choice approach, to corruption and rent-seeking. The main results of this study show a negative relationship between the level of corruption and economic wealth for all analyzed countries, especially for the ones that compose the new member states group. For all the EU member states, the variables capturing governance quality seem to have a positive impact on economic wealth. The higher levels of governance performance, synonymous with lower levels of rent-seeking, personal interest, and political pressures on state administrations, contribute to economic wealth, as public choice theory emphasizes. There is a need for reform and an increase in the efficiency of public institutions, especially in new member states.

Environmental degradation and its impact on sustainable development have sparked the interest of national and international policymakers, specialists, and academia. This paper aims to demonstrate the empirical nexus between environmental performance, measured by carbon dioxide emissions, and education levels together with institutional quality in a society. To achieve this goal, the regression model includes the main variables that reflect the quality of governance (government effectiveness, regulatory quality, control of corruption, and rule of law), together with education dimension, gross domestic product, renewable energy consumption, fossil fuel energy consumption, and industry. The data were collected for the 1995–2020 period, for a set of 43 countries, consisting of all European Union (EU) members and The Group of Twenty (G20) states. The research uses three estimations methods, respectively Pooled ordinary least squares (Pooled OLS), Fixed effects model (FEM) and Random effects model (REM), together with a two-step dynamic GMM model, to address the endogeneity issue as well. The main results show that all the independent variables reflecting institutional quality from a technical point of view, included in the model when considering the PCSE estimation, have a direct and positive link to CO2 emissions’ level, with control of corruption variable being the only one to influence in a positive manner CO2 emissions at a significant level. Education level, together with economic growth, fossil fuel energy consumption and industry, had a negative significant impact as well upon environmental performance, an increase of one unit in these variables contributing to increased carbon dioxide levels in the EU and G20 sample when considering both the panel corrected model as well as the GMM scenario. Renewable energy is the only independent variable to manifest a significant positive and direct link with environmental performance, drawing attention to the need of adapting the primary sources of energy, in line with international organizations’ sustainable development policy recommendations. Also, there is a need to improve citizens’ perceptions of public services and institutions by building confidence in government’s ability to formulate and implement regulations.

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which originated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is undoubtedly one of the defining events of this current period, expected to exert a significant impact on the entire world’s economies. This study aims to determine whether the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has a significant impact on European Union (EU) Member States, particularly on the economic output of the EU countries, in the post-pandemic context. Difference-in-difference methodology alongside panel data econometric techniques are used to study the relationship between the effects of war, reflected in the deepening energy crisis, inflation, limited trade relations, restructuring of governmental expenditures, and the migrant crisis, together with economic freedom and governance quality as elements of neoliberal doctrine, and the economic wealth of EU Member States for the 1995–2021 period. In light of current research, the results prove that war has a significant impact on the economic output of the European Union structure, especially for the EU countries that rely the most on Russia’s energy imports. Using the difference in difference analysis, the impact of war on gdp_cap is evaluated as a drop in economic output of −405.08 euros per capita in the considered European countries. Applying panel regression analysis, defense and military expenditures, inflation, lack of trade openness, and increased levels of energy dependence negatively impact economic growth in the EU economies. In addition, this study provides essential information for public officials in order to prepare the EU economy for the recovery from war shocks in the forthcoming period, taking into account the study’s policy recommendations regarding energy reliance, restructuring public expenditure, prioritizing investment, and improving governance quality.

This paper aims to analyze the extent to which European Union (EU) member states succeed in diminishing income disparities using their quality of governance in the context of rising income inequality. By using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) nonparametric method, the link between each country's efforts regarding their governance quality and the impact of these efforts on countering growing inequality was uncovered. The data used in this study were collected for the year 2020, for all 27 member states of the European Union. The main findings point out that, on average, EU countries are relatively inefficient, with only three countries achieving high levels of government performance, whose financial policies are reflected in reducing income inequalities, namely: Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. Furthermore, it was concluded that EU veteran states are relatively more effective than those that joined after 2004 in terms of eliminating income disparities through effective governance.