Brussels, 09/06/2006
Ahead of the European Council meeting on 15-16 June to discuss the revised EU Strategy for Sustainable Development, the three organisations called on national leaders to reconfirm the EU's essential role in leading Sustainable Development for Member States and outside the EU, as enshrined in the Treaty. They encouraged leaders to adopt an ambitious Sustainable Development Strategy for the European Union that will implement the “Declaration on Guiding Principles for Sustainable Development” agreed by the European Council in June 2005, and ensure its implementation.
In particular, the three organisations asked national leaders to:
- Establish a stable framework for the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. This is essential to bring about enduring changes to support Sustainable Development. The “Guiding Principles of Sustainable Development” were outlined in the June 2005 European Council. The 2001 Gothenburg Council laid down the principal objectives for the Sustainable Development Strategy.
- Clarify the processes which monitor consistency between the Lisbon and sustainable development strategies, how synergies are maximised and how, where they are unavoidable, the necessary trade-offs are made. All major Commission proposals, including those devised under the Lisbon Strategy, should receive a proper Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) with strong emphasis on environmental and social impacts,. The EU Sustainable Development Strategy should be the IIA's reference standard.
- To build the necessary broad consensus for Sustainable Development, it must be clear who bears the costs and who is responsible for what action and when. There must be firm commitment to ensure that where there is a cost to sustainability, the burden must not fall on those who are least able to bear it. It is essential in making policy and monitoring progress that social partners and EU civil society organisations are directly consulted. Broadly organised stakeholder meetings alone are inadequate for this task.
Press contacts:
Patricia Grillo (European Trade Union Confederation) Tel: + 32 (0)2 224 04 30 - GSM: + 32 (0) 477 77 01 64 - email: [email protected]
Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener (Social Platform) Tel: + 32 (0)2 511 37 14 - email: [email protected]
Peter Clarke (European Environmental Bureau) Tel: + 32 (0)2 289 13 09 - email: [email protected]