Bibliometric Analysis of the Specialized Literature on Financing the Circular Economy from European Union Funds

The last decade, the European Union has proposed and promoted various initiatives regarding sustainability, and central to this strategy is the circular economy, a concept that developed with the launch of the European Green Deal and the New Action Plan for the Circular Economy. According to the specialized literature, there are numerous sources that link the circular economy with digitalization, green technologies and economic growth, but despite these advances, there are gaps in explaining how the financing of community budget concretely supports the implementation of the circular economy at regional and national levels. Thus, this paper presents a bibliometric analysis of the specialized literature on the financing of the circular economy from European Union funds. Using the scientific mapping technique through specialized software in network visualization, this study explores the networks of co-authorship and co-occurrence of keywords, going beyond simple quantitative analysis. The main questions aim to identify the extent to which the funds stimulate cross-border and interdisciplinary collaborations, as well as which are the cores of academic excellence that manage these projects. Key finding suggest that in the literature, structural funds are perceived as the main source of funding for the transition to a circular economy. At the same time, the analysis shows a geographical fragmentation as the authors who addressed this topic mainly come from institutions in countries that have attracted significant funding for green projects. This paper contributes to the field of study by linking the European Union’s budget allocations to the circular economy and the dynamics of academic visibility.