Views on the reflection paper ‘Towards a Sustainable EU by 2030’

Three possible scenarios that should guide the European Union in operating a just environmental, social, economic and political transition towards sustainability by 2030 are at the core of the Commission’s Vice-Presidents Timmermans and Katainen’s reflection paper. Out of these scenarios, CONCORD strongly supports the first scenario: A vision of an overarching Sustainable Europe 2030 Strategy. This should therefore become the number one priority of the next Commission 2019-2024. Of course, this cannot be realised without integrating elements of scenario two which allow mainstreaming sustainable development through all policies. 

There is still a lot to be done, and CONCORD welcomes the Commission’s recognition of this very fact. The following responses look at the reflection paper’s promising elements, and includes CONCORD’s recommendations about how they could be pushed forward.