**4. Final remarks**

The synthetic methodology analysis shown to characterize each of the EU Member States according to the area dedicated to different land uses—defining land use patterns, models and dynamics. Also, this typology of study is possible to replicate using the official and openaccess tools mentioned above. In fact, through CLC and its available data, the analysis can be expanded for 2012 and onwards.

In this regard, the performed analyses provide valuable results and knowledge for the decision-makers, in territorial governance and land use planning, which can influence directly and indirectly the socio-economic aspects, such as the environmental paradigm.

Precisely, different trends regarding the presence of certain typologies of land uses in the EU territories between the periods of 1990, 2000, 2006 and 2012 determine that the majority use in Europe is the agrarian use, followed by the forest, in which the majority is the non-irrigated land. Also, it is possible to verify the high variability in land use pattern of some countries—as the case of Finland, Latvia, Portugal and Spain. The rest of the countries present are deeply consolidated models determined by the scarce variation trend of land use.

It is also possible to verify as the land use in some countries is not very varied, since one or more land uses very prominently predominate over others. This is the case of countries like Finland, Lithuania, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Spain. Therefore, in these countries it is not easy to observe quick changes on the land use model and pattern. As a result, if for some reason in some of the abovementioned countries it is deemed appropriate to change the land use, it is necessary to change major land uses, to achieve higher variability.
