Currently, a major challenge for European economies is the volatility of electricity prices, which affects costs borne by households and firms, as well as inflation, economic competitiveness, and energy security. Although the literature has analysed various determinants of electricity prices, there is still limited evidence on the comparative short- and long-term effects of fiscal factors, the natural gas market, and the transition to renewable energy within the Member States of the European Union. This paper analyses the relationship between household electricity prices and a set of economic, climate, and fiscal determinants in EU countries over the period 2017–2025, using panel data econometric methods. The methodology includes pooled OLS models, fixed and random effects estimators, unit root tests, cross-sectional dependence (Pesaran CD) tests, cointegration analysis, and a Panel ARDL-PMG framework, complemented by robustness checks using FMOLS and DOLS-type estimators. The results indicate the existence of a stable long-run equilibrium relationship between the analysed variables, as well as significant cross-sectional dependence among countries, reflecting common shocks and interconnected dynamics in EU energy markets. Fixed effects models are used as the baseline specification, while PMG-ARDL and other dynamic estimators are employed for robustness analysis. The results are consistent across different econometric specifications. The conclusions highlight the dominant role of Household Gas Prices as the main determinant of electricity prices, while energy productivity shows a positive association with electricity price levels. Climate variables exhibit weak and unstable effects, and environmental taxes do not show statistically significant impacts within the sample period. Overall, the findings underline the importance of energy market dynamics, structural factors, and the ongoing energy transition in shaping electricity price developments in the European Union.

Although compared to many other parts of the world, the European Union is a prosperous region, with a relatively low level of social inequality, nevertheless a series of problems persist and often develop in times of crisis (e.g. the global crisis of 2008-2009, the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 crisis). Under the influence of the south-eastern flank of EU27 countries, poverty, social inequity and even the participation of young people in the labor market or in education and training programs seem to suffer significantly from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study uses panel data from 2011 to 2021 and analyzes it using a regression approach to determine the influence of the characteristics of social policies at the level of EU27 countries on several problematic social indicators such as: At-risk-of-poverty rate by sex, Income quintile share ratio (S80/S20) by sex, Young people neither in employment nor in education and training by sex (NEET). According to the findings of this research, the effect of the characteristics of social policies on the improvement of the above indicators is weak, and the influence comes more from the part of the social indicators on the characteristics of the social policies at the EU27 level.

Recent international developments show more and more the necessity not only of belonging to a regional value system but especially to an ideological block capable of serving national aspirations. In this sense, the desire of the Republic of Moldova to align itself with European values and its integration into the European Union requires the fulfillment of not only political but also economic criteria. In addition to these, the degree of economic convergence, implicitly social, is particularly important. In this sense, the article proposes a comparative approach between Romania and the Republic of Moldova of some macroeconomic indicators, and among them mainly some social and labor market indicators, in order to appreciate the degree of closeness to the regional and EU27 developments.

The concept of ESG is dynamic and versatile and particularly targets the conduct of companies that, in addition to financial and performance criteria, propose to integrate social, environmental and good governance elements. Through this compliance with ESG, companies aim to be able to maintain their dominant position in the market, to obtain investments or bank loans much more easily or under better conditions, but also to contribute positively and actively to the world in which they operate. From this perspective, ESG becomes an assessment tool and attitudinal guidance at the company management level regarding sustainability and responsible behavior. At the macroeconomic level, the extensive and generalized application of ESG at the company level can create structural changes in society regarding organizational performance, contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. From this perspective, the study aims to analyze the conceptual framework regarding the interdependencies between ESG and sustainable development targets regarding the social component. The methodology aims at a theoretical, explanatory, conceptual and functional analysis of the connections between the two elements. From this perspective, the study will focus on the conceptual analysis of SDGs 3,4,5,8 and 10 in relation to ESG. The results confirm the capacity of ESG to assess and implement sustainable development targets at the company level, but also the capacity of SDGs to expand and build the broad normative framework for ESG functioning.