On Tuesday 20 June, the EU Council confirmed the strong commitment of the European Union and its member states to fully implementing the universal sustainable development agenda and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) that were set by the UN for 2030. The Council also called on the European Commission to put forward a strategy to enable the EU and its 28 member states to keep their pledges.
With many contributions from the different Council formations on the steps the EU should take in order to translate the SDG into its internal and external policies concretely, the General Affairs Council adopted its conclusions as planned (see EUROPE 11721).
It calls on the European Commission to develop a strategy and timetable by mid-2018 for implementing goals and measures to make the 2030 universal agenda concrete in all EU policies. Also by mid-2018, the Commission will have to identify gaps where the EU needs to do more by 2030 in the areas of policy, legislation, governance structures for horizontal coherence and implementation.
The Commission communication – "Next steps for a sustainable European future" – which guided the contributions from the different Council formations was only a roadmap for the methodology for the further preparation of an EU strategy to integrate the SDG into the EU's internal and external policies. The Commission merely confirmed that the EU was already implementing the SDG into its different policies, much to the annoyance of NGOs. With this mandate from the Council, it will be able to put forward a substantiated strategy. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)