Assessment of European countries’ national circular economy policies

The circular economy (CE) has become key to achieving the environmental objectives set by the European Union (EU). This transformative process requires linear production processes to be abandoned and replaced with environmentally-friendly circular models. In this scenario, the present study uses Data Envelopment Analysis and the Sequential Malmquist Index to achieve a twofold objective: (1) to analyse the effectiveness of the national CE policies applied by 19 EU Member States and (2) to identify the items of circularity that need improvement, in order to support decision-makers in the implementation of appropriate CE policies. The results confirm that the measures adopted have had a positive impact, leading to more efficient circular patterns designed to achieve the desired climate neutrality. Policymakers should focus on resilience and international cooperation, without overlooking environmental sustainability and the need to control excessive resource extraction.