The aim of the article is to analyze the level of the knowledge-based economy (KBE) in the European Union countries in terms of sustainable development. The added value of the work is the presentation of research results at different levels of data aggregation (EU countries, EU macro-regions, EU regions). This type of approach was used for the first time in this study. The research assumes that knowledge and skills are one of the basic factors in implementing the concept of sustainable development. Currently, there are very large disproportions at the level of KBE in the countries, macro-regions, and regions of the EU. It also translates into their socio-economic situation and thus into competitiveness and innovation. The highest level of KBE is in north-western and central Europe countries, while the lowest is in the countries of eastern and south-eastern Europe. This regularity also applies to macro-regions and regions located in these countries.

The share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the global energy system is systematically increasing, making them the most important element of the energy transformation. Their use enables rational management of limited resources, reduction of environmental pollution, and has a significant inhibitory effect on energy poverty by improving energy efficiency. The aim of this article is to assess the impact of the use of renewable energy on the level of energy poverty in the European Union countries in 2010, 2015, and 2022. A taxonomic measure of development based on the Weber median was used to examine the relationship between the results achieved by individual EU member states in terms of the impact of the use of renewable energy on the level of energy poverty. The research results clearly indicate the existence of disproportions between the countries of the “old” EU and the countries that joined it in 2004 and later. These disproportions concern both the use of energy obtained from renewable sources and energy poverty. In the countries of the “old” Union, a positive moderate relationship was identified between the use of renewable energy and energy poverty, which means that a higher share of the use of energy from renewable sources in these countries reduces energy poverty. In the countries of the “new” Union, however, this relationship was very weak (2010) or non-existent. Since the renewable energy sector is subject to government policy and regulations, the results presented in this paper should be of interest to decision-makers. A stable, long-term policy should provide an appropriate investment climate that provides support for renewable energy projects and reduces the level of energy poverty.

This study aims to present the current status and forecasts related to the generation of energy from renewable sources, as well as the challenges and barriers resulting from the development of this energy in the European Union countries. The research procedure consists of three stages: bibliometric analysis of scientific publications conducted based on the Web of Science database, visualization of results using VOSViewer software (version 1.6.20), and in-depth analysis of the content of the publications. The study covered two periods. The first one covered the years 1990–2024, in which publications on sustainable development and renewable energy sources began to appear around the world. The second one included publications from 2002, because the first works on European Union countries were identified in that year. The final sample included 96 articles that identified key links between sustainable development and renewable energy. These topics accounted for 50% of all issues discussed in these articles. It turned out that one of the most important challenges of modern economies (21.9% of the articles examined) is finding a balance between sustainable economic growth and limiting environmental degradation. The literature review also shows that the renewable energy sector in the EU and its Member States is developing dynamically. This was confirmed by Eurostat data on both renewable energy production and consumption.

The aim of the article is to show that in rural areas, with particular emphasis on former state-owned farms, which were created as a result of changes in the forms of land ownership, mainly in Central and Eastern European countries, the economic situation of households is still worse than in the areas where there were no State Agricultural Enterprises (PGR). Research in Poland served as a case study. Selected methods of descriptive statistics and multivariate comparative analysis were used in the analyses. The results presented in the study at different levels of aggregation (voivodeships, poviats, and communes) allowed the identification of the regularities in the situation of rural areas. Among the beneficiaries of social assistance, most of the people live in rural areas and have a high unemployment rate; the problem of unemployment especially concerns those areas where the rural population with lower education levels predominates. Moreover, in former state-owned farms, the total disposable income per person is lower than in other areas, and the funds from the government program “Rodzina 500+” constitute a significant contribution to household budgets.

Global discussion on energy security remains deeply embedded in social, political, and economic discourse, especially in light of ongoing geopolitical instability and disruptions in supply chains. The aim of this study is to assess the degree of differentiation in the energy security of EU countries and to distinguish typological groups of the studied facilities based on the level of this phenomenon in 2023. This article uses a three-stage research procedure to assess the energy security of EU countries. In the first stage, statistical data were collected for 21 diagnostic features belonging to three groups: energy production and consumption, energy imports and exports, and economic and social factors. Next, using the TOPSIS method, three synthetic measures were constructed: separately for each group of features, taking into account features from the first and second groups, and taking into account features from all three groups. Based on these measures, typological groups of countries were identified using the three-median method. In the final stage, the impact of socio-economic characteristics on energy security was assessed. The results presented in this paper confirm the varied level of energy security in EU countries and indicate that it is linked not only to categories directly related to the energy economy but also to the level of socio-economic development of a given country. The top places in the ranking are occupied by countries such as Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria, while the last places in the ranking include Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland.

In Poland, institutions that perform public tasks in the field of the labour market are state employment services, including District Labour Offices (PUPs). They try to restore the unemployed to the open labour market using active forms of their activation. The activities of PUPs in the field of customer activation are subject to annual evaluation. According to the “Act on Employment Promotion and on Labour Market Institutions”, four indicators were selected for the evaluation of the functioning of labour offices in 2015–2017. Among them, the employment effectiveness index is very important, as its level allows us to assess to what extent active forms of activation of the unemployed implemented by PUPs contribute to the return of the unemployed to employment. This assessment is so important that in Poland as well as in other countries research has been conducted on both active forms of activation of the unemployed and employment policies. The aim of the research whose results are presented in the article was to identify factors influencing the employment effectiveness index achieved by District Labour Offices (PUPs) operating in Poland in 2016. Selected statistical methods were used, including correlation and regression analysis as well as multidimensional correspondence analysis. It turned out that the methods applied did not make it possible to unambiguously identify factors which had significantly affected the employment effectiveness index calculated on the basis of all forms of activation. It may turn out that clearer relations could be identified if this indicator was considered separately for particular forms of activation.