Assessing Disparities in Climate and Energy Agri-Environmental Indicators Among EU Countries Using the PROMETHEE–GAIA Method and the Entropy Index

This paper examines differences in agri-environmental climate and energy performance across the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. An integrated methodological framework was applied, combining the Shannon Entropy Index for objective weighting of indicators with the PROMETHEE–GAIA multi-criteria decision-making approach to rank EU countries according to their relative performance. The analysis focuses on four key indicators: (1) Climate: greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (GHG) and (2) Energy: (1) gross available energy (GAE), (2) renewable energy primary production (REPP), and (3) gross inland consumption (GIC)—expressed as intensity measures (ktoe per million euro of agricultural gross value added), and covers the period 2017–2023. The results reveal a reduction in cross-country dispersion for greenhouse gas emission intensity, reflected in a decline in entropy values, suggesting partial convergence in climate-related performance. In contrast, energy-related intensity indicators (GAE, GIC, and REPP) remain highly heterogeneous, indicating persistent structural differences in energy efficiency, energy mix and agricultural systems across Member States, despite modest signs of convergence for selected indicators. The PROMETHEE ranking identified Romania, Italy, Greece, Spain and Poland as leading performers, reflecting favourable combinations of lower emission intensity and more efficient energy use per unit of agricultural value added. Conversely, structurally constrained economies such as Malta, Cyprus, and Luxembourg consistently ranked among the lowest-performing countries, primarily due to high energy and emission intensities relative to agricultural output. The findings point to selective and indicator-specific convergence rather than uniform long-term convergence across the EU, underscoring the need for differentiated policy approaches to support a more balanced and sustainable energy transition in agriculture.