Ecological development of rural areas in the European Union member states in 2000-2012

The purpose of research was to analyze ecological development in EU countries during 2000-2012. Six primary variables have been applied, namely: the share of forest area in total land area, emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) in agriculture, emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in agriculture, electric power consumption per capita, the share of alternative and nuclear energy in total energy use and the share of area under organic farming in total agricultural land area. The authors have developed a synthetic index, which enabled the statement that Latvia, Finland, Austria, Sweden and Estonia are leading EU countries in terms of ecological development; the worst situation is in France, Poland, Malta, Spain and in the United Kingdom.