Each spring, the European Council meets in order to discuss Europe's progress towards becoming the most competitive economy in the world. At the same time, progress in the area of sustainable development is reviewed. The Working Group on Sustainable Development of the European Environmental Advisory Councils (EEAC) is preparing recommendations as an input to the spring meetings. Ecologic helped the Working Group in drafting the EEAC recommendations for 2004.

In sum, the EEAC concludes that the present European Sustainable Development Strategy (EU-SDS) is pointing in the right direction for sustainability.

However, its current status has several shortcomings: 

• insufficient attention to the environmental dimension
• no stimulation for public understanding, no leadership
• missing link to national SD Councils and Strategies and to civil society
• a poor long-term and political perspective
• proposed cut in the number of indicators is side lining the core idea of sustainability
• institutional shortcomings and the lack of co-ordination
• missing focus on enlargement

The EEAC therefore recommends:

• to introduce a requirement into the EU Constitution to make the policies of the EU consistent with the principle of sustainable development
• to add eradication of poverty as a primary objective into the EU Constitution
• to supplement the strategic target of the EU to develop into the world's most eco-efficient area by 2010
• to introduce more ambitious targets and timetables for the SDS
• to establish an EU Council for Sustainable Development
• to promote a stronger link between EU-SDS and national SD strategies
• to enhance and strengthen the Cardiff Process
• to improve information flow on sustainable development in general and between old and new Member States

The EEAC recommendations for 2004 are available for download [pdf, 184 KB, English].

Background

The conclusions of the European Council meeting in March 2000 call for Europe "to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion".

In order to achieve this aim, the so-called Lisbon process was initiated. The Lisbon process originally consisted of an economic and a social pillar.

In parallel to the Lisbon process, a European Sustainable Development Strategy was elaborated. At its meeting in Stockholm in March 2001, the European Council called for complementing the Lisbon Strategy with a third, environmental pillar.

Accordingly, the European Council, meeting in the spring of each year, reports, reviews and evaluates the progress of the economic, social and environmental pillars.