Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-14-Speech-3-186"
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"en.20060614.16.3-186"2
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"Mr President, the Sustainable Development and Lisbon strategies together address issues that really concern people. European value and quality of life surveys tell us that citizens want prosperity, but they also want a clean environment, good health, social protection and equality.
We also welcome the priority given by the Austrian Presidency to the revisions of SDS and the draft conclusions that will be discussed at this week’s European Council. We are talking about a new drive aimed at making the difficult changes across society that are necessary for sustainable development. The review of the European Union’s Sustainable Development Strategy is about how we can do things better to get results: first, about how we design policy, including policies within the Lisbon Agenda; second, about implementing what has been agreed; third, about making sure that we involve all those who need to act. The European Union institutions cannot achieve sustainable development alone.
The new strategy addresses some of the weaknesses of the previous strategy: unclear priorities, little ownership and absence of a clear monitoring mechanism. It confirms the main challenges, but clarifies the objectives and sets out a new and more rigorous monitoring mechanism. It includes regular reports from the Commission, which are to be submitted every two years, drawing on the latest Eurostat indicators. It includes national strategies, to be updated to bring them more into line with the European Union Strategy, and it includes peer review of national strategies to allow mutual learning.
We need to learn from best practice and use every opportunity to multiply successful initiatives. By clarifying priorities, we will also facilitate the coordination of the Lisbon and Sustainable Development strategies.
The renewed Sustainable Development Strategy re-emphasises the importance of an integrated approach. The problems are interlinked and so are the solutions. Good use of impact assessments that address the economic, social and environmental impacts of proposals is key. Horizontal measures, such as getting prices right, investment and research and innovation, education and skills are also important. The new strategy is about all of us assuming our responsibilities. Involving stakeholders, businesses and citizens in delivering results is a priority. It is also about all European Union institutions and Member States working for the implementation of the Strategy.
We believe that the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions should play a more active role in helping to implement and monitor the strategy.
The Commission put forward its proposal for the review of the European Union’s Sustainable Development Strategy in December. This has been the subject of in-depth debate in the Council, culminating in the adoption of a review of the Strategy at the European Council scheduled for tomorrow. I welcome Parliament’s input from January on the stocktaking and orientations for the review, and I appreciate the involvement of many of you in the stakeholder debate on this subject. I look forward to working with you further on this, on the issues raised in the motion for a resolution amongst others.
Sustainable development is an over-arching objective of the Union. The European Union Sustainable Development Strategy and the Lisbon Strategy work hand in hand towards this objective, although they should be kept separate. Together the strategies are an agenda for change, for Europe to adapt to a changing global context: new competitors, an aging population, and the impacts of demographic change, increased resource scarcities, climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem loss, for example. They aim to stimulate innovation, including behavioural change, create level playing fields and engage all.
The Lisbon Strategy and the Sustainable Development Strategy are complementary. The much-needed economic growth must be decoupled from environmental degradation and must better safeguard social cohesion to ensure it can be sustained. At the same time, though, the worldwide drive towards more eco-efficient products and services creates opportunities for growth and jobs that we must seize.
For both we need to act. By achieving results on sustainable development, we improve our chances of regaining citizens’ confidence in the European Union. To achieve results, we need to focus and be clear about who does what. This implies a certain practical distribution of work between the two strategies.
The Lisbon Strategy addresses concerns about medium-term economic performance, looking to stimulate growth and jobs and helping the European Union to adapt to global competition and increased pressures on resources. To achieve this aim, the Lisbon Strategy comprises actions in a wide range of policy areas, many of which are central to sustainable development strategy, such as energy efficiency, environmental technologies resource use, and others.
The SDS addresses concerns about our prosperity, both in economic and quality of life terms, including issues that are more slow-burning, where time-lags mean that actions now have impacts into the long term. A good example is climate change, but also unsustainable modes of transport, social exclusion, health and how we use our natural resources.
It also looks at broader global challenges and impacts beyond the European Union’s borders. But let us be clear: Lisbon and the SDS are mutually reinforcing. The success of one depends on the success of the other. The priority now is to achieve results. There have been more than 20 years of debate on sustainable development, but progress in addressing unsustainable trends is too slow. We must move from words to action.
Some say that we are not ambitious enough. I disagree. The Commission’s revised SDS provides a new political drive for sustainable policies that apply to all policy areas."@en1
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