In recent years the EU has mainstreamed sustainable development into a broad range of its policies. In particular, the EU has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and the promotion of a low-carbon economy. Three years into the implementation of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy the Commission has taken stock of developments at EU level and launched a reflection on how the EU strategy could be taken into the future.

The European Commission has issued a report that confirms that positive EU policy progress has been made in all seven priority areas covered by the Strategy. Some examples are:

• EU's climate and energy package of December 2008.
• Actions for greening of transport and more intelligent transport systems.
• Improvement of energy efficiency of buildings.
• Revisions of eco-design and eco-label directives.
• Setting up an integrated maritime policy framework and EU health strategy.
• Work on migration and fight against poverty and exclusion.

Also work on the cross-cutting areas education, research and financing progressed. However, unsustainable trends persist in several areas. For example, demand on natural resources is growing, biodiversity is in decline and energy consumption of transport continues to rise.

The current economic and financial crisis has shown that sustainability is also a key factor for the financial systems and the economy as a whole. Measures to support the real economy and to reduce the social impact of the current crisis must be compatible with long-term sustainability goals and a strategy of green, smart growth.

The Report adopted will allow the European Council to review priorities and to provide orientations for the future of the Strategy at its next meeting in December, and it will be complemented by Eurostat's bi-annual monitoring report on sustainable development which will be published later in 2009.

Background

The renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy, adopted in June 2006, addresses seven main challenges: climate change and clean energy; sustainable transport; sustainable consumption and production; conservation and management of natural resources; public health; social inclusion, demography and migration and global poverty.

The December 2007 European Council asked the Commission to provide a second progress report on the European sustainable development strategy by June 2009. This review is in response to the request of the European Council.