In the absence of a strategy, a discussion paper on what the EU's future strategy could be to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development and its 17 objectives (SDGs) adopted by the UN in September 2015 was presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 30 January (see EUROPE 12181).
This document, entitled 'Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030', should pave the way for a comprehensive implementation strategy in 2019, stressed the October 2018 European Council, recalling the EU's and its Member States' commitment to the sustainable development agenda by 2030 and its implementation. It will feed into the debate on the future of the Twenty-seven.
Moving from a linear to a circular economy, correcting imbalances in the EU food system, ensuring sustainable energy, buildings and mobility, ensuring that this transition is socially just and leaves no one behind are the main foundations for a transition to sustainability identified by the Commission. Equity must be at the heart of the process to ensure the well-being and prosperity of all citizens in the EU and the world, she stressed.
"We can maintain our standard of living, strengthen the well-being of our children, our grandchildren in a healthy, natural environment, in an inclusive, green and prosperous economy. We should not think that sustainability will deteriorate our quality of life. On the contrary. If we do not take the necessary measures for sustainability, then our quality of life will quickly decline", Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans told the press.
These ideas apply to Europe, but not only to Europe. The Commission emphasises the importance of paving the way for the transition to global sustainability and stresses that EU policies will have only a limited impact on the planet if other countries or regions of the world pursue policies that are contrary to global sustainability.
According to the Vice-President for Employment, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, sustainability is certainly a challenge, but it offers "opportunities for companies, because we are talking about the modernisation of our economies and societies". And to recall in particular that Europe has succeeded in decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.
To stimulate the debate, the Commission suggests three options: 1) a comprehensive strategy to guide the action of the EU and its Member States; 2) a constant integration of the SDGs into all relevant EU policies by the Commission, without requiring Member States to act to meet the EU's collective commitments; 3) greater reliance on external action to help third countries achieve the SDGs, with the EU already high on the global performance rankings (notably for SDGs 1 and 3). The discussion could lead to a combination of these three scenarios - a possibility that the Commission considers most likely.
Crying out for an EU strategy by mid-2018, called for by NGOs and the European Parliament, the EU Council had called for it (see EUROPE 11813). Until now, the Commission had only launched a high-level multi-stakeholder platform bringing together public and private actors to promote the exchange of good practices for the implementation of the SDGs in the EU (see EUROPE 11937). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)