Brussels, 24/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 24 July, the European Commission adopted a report which takes stock of the integration of sustainable development in the policies of the EU. According to the Treaty, sustainable development is the general long-term objective of the European Union. The EU's sustainable development strategy (SDS), which was revised in 2006, constitutes the framework of the long-term vision of sustainable development in which economic growth, social cohesion and environmental protection go hand-in-hand and mutually support each other.
The report confirms that progress has been made in each of the seven areas recognized as a priority. In particular, the adoption of the legislative package on energy and climate change in December 2008 (amongst other things, the EU has committed to reduce its emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels by 2020 and to increase this level to 30% in the event of an international agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009; furthermore, the EU wishes to increase to 20% the proportion of renewable energies in its energy consumption by 2020). Amongst the other progress made was the following: - actions carried out to make transport greener and to set in place more intelligent transport systems; - improved energy efficiency in buildings; - revision of the directives on energy labelling and eco-design; - the creation of a framework for an integrated maritime policy; - the European health strategy; - work on migratory flows; - initiatives to fight poverty and exclusion.
Even so, tendencies which go against sustainable development have been seen in a number of areas, such as: - global demand for natural resources is growing steeply and will continue to increase, due to the growth of the world's population (which is set to reach 9 billion people by 2050); - biodiversity is shrinking throughout the world and there is nothing to indicate a reversal, or even a slow-down, of this trend (the EU is unlikely to achieve its objective of reducing the impoverishment of biodiversity by 2010) and, according to the Commission, annual losses of the services rendered by ecosystems have been estimated in the region of €50 billion, whilst cumulative well-being losses could be worth 7% of GDP by 2050; - the consumption of energy and greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase in transport; - the objective of achieving a proportion of active older workers of at least 50% by 2010 is likely to be achieved, but this is unlikely to be true of the objective of increasing the average retirement age to 65 by 2010; - according to Eurostat data, gross internal research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP has fallen from 1.85% in 2000 to 1.83% in 2007. It now appears extremely unlikely that the EU will hit its objective of 3% by 2010.
The strategy in favour of sustainable development needs revising (the European Council will decide on new orientations in December of this year). The Council is working on ideas, such as: - increased harmonisation with the Lisbon strategy for employment and growth and with other cross-cutting Community strategies; - increased consideration for the new challenges (energy security, adapting to climate change, food security, soil use).
On top of this report will come Eurostat's twice-yearly follow-up report on sustainable development, to be published at the end of 2009. (L.C./transl.fl)