Content
A Brief introduction to the Gothenburg Agenda
The Gothenburg Agenda, now called the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy sets out the European level vision for implementation sustainable development principles across the EU member states.
Environmental sustainability remains a major cross-cutting theme for 2007-2013. The overall aim of the renewed Strategy is to "...support and promote actions to enable the European Union to achieve continuous improvement of quality of life for both current and future generations, through the creation of sustainable communities able to manage and use resources efficiently and to tap the ecological and social innovation potential of the economy, ensuring prosperity, environmental protection and social cohesion."
History
In June 2001, the Gothenburg European Council completed the Lisbon Strategy by adding the environmental dimension to the Lisbon process as its 'third pillar', the others being economic and social reform. Integration of environmental protection into other Community policies became a requirement. Sustainable development deals with economic, social and environmental policies in a mutually reinforcing way. Priorities include combating climate change, ensuring sustainable transport, addressing threats to public health and managing natural resources more responsibly.
For the four priorities, the Gothenborg European Council agreed on:
- Climate change: Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto targets. Progress towards electricity generated from renewable sources.
- Sustainable transport: Decoupling gross domestic product from transport growth. Tackling rising traffic volumes, congestion, noise and pollution. Encouraging the use of and investment in environmentally friendly transport and related infrastructure.
- Public health: Respond to citizens' concerns regarding food safety, the use of chemicals, infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.
- Resource management: Decoupling resource use and the generation of waste from growth.
Since 2002, the Gothenburg strategy has been subject to ongoing monitoring and adjustment, the results of which are published in a separate chapter of the Commission's annual report on the Lisbon strategy. The latter is usually published in March of each year, before the spring European Council.
