Current status and UK implementation

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy

UK implementation

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A renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) was adopted by Heads of State and Government, including UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, on 15-16 June 2006. The Strategy sets out the European Union’s priorities for action on sustainable development under seven key challenges requiring stronger impetus: a new section on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP); climate change and energy; public health; social exclusion; demography and migration; natural resources; transport; and global poverty and development. It also includes the Principles of Sustainable Development adopted by European Council in June 2005.

The Strategy also strengthens the governance structure for ensuring implementation. This includes periodic Commission progress reports to the European Council, review by the European Council every two years, national Sustainable Development reports by Member States, peer reviews of national strategies, and closer involvement of outside stakeholders.

Download the final text of the Reviewed EU SDS.

The main task will be to ensure that the existing commitments identified in the strategy under the key challenges are taken forward. The UK will aim to ensure that sustainable development aspects have been properly taken into account in all key EU proposals that are relevant to these challenges.

Departmental EU coordinators are asked to monitor proposals to ensure this general need is considered and, as appropriate and necessary, seek more specific input from the relevant policy leads to inform the UK position at EU level.

Better Regulation, particularly impact assessment, will be the main tool for ensuring the delivery of consistent and sustainable policy outcomes at EU level. EU coordinators and policy leads are asked to ensure, in line with relevant UK and EU guidance, that sustainable development aspects have been adequately considered in impact assessments.

The EU SDS sets out the complementary relationship between sustainable development, as an overarching objective of EU policy, and the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, which makes an essential contribution to this objective. The UK will aim to ensure that its National Reform Programme under the Lisbon process reflects this relationship and that this relationship is reflected in its contacts with other Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament.

The UK will provide input, via the Defra national focal point, to the two-yearly Europe Commission progress reports on the EU SDS for consideration by the European Council. The UK's contribution to the first progress report was submitted to the European Commission in June 2007 and is published here (PDF, 206KB).

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Updated: 15 August 2007