Measuring the Economic Efficiency of the EU Energy Sector

This article evaluates the efficiency of primary energy production in EU countries using Data Envelopment Analysis. The analysis is based on aggregated macroeconomic and environmental data obtained from publicly available databases, with efficiency assessment explicitly accounting for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions as an undesirable output. The empirical results indicate relatively high average efficiency levels across the observed period, with several countries consistently operating on the efficiency frontier. In the second stage, a censored Tobit model is employed to examine the role of the energy mix. The findings suggest that both renewable and nuclear energy shares are positively associated with efficiency, with nuclear energy showing a somewhat stronger and more robust effect.