S&Ds welcome Council’s commitment to put SDGs at the core of the EU
Date
11 Apr 2019
Sections
Climate & Environment
The Socialists & Democrats Group welcomes the Council’s conclusions ‘Towards an ever more sustainable Union by 2030’ adopted this week. Recalling the Commission’s Reflection Paper ‘Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030’, it stresses the urgent need to establish a comprehensive and overarching pathway for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next legislative term.
S&D Group leader Udo Bullmann said:
“Our Group has been at the forefront of the fight for a more sustainable Europe that offers well-being to all its citizens, while respecting the boundaries of our fragile planet. We are very glad and proud to see the Council’s commitment to these goals. Three weeks after the adoption of the Parliament’s ‘Annual strategic report on the implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals’ on the 14th of March in Strasbourg, now both institutions say with one voice that the EU has a strong responsibility to ensure that the SDGs are implemented both inside and outside the EU.
“However, we call for an even more ambitious plan. Inspired by the SDGs, our Group has developed an ambitious programme with 110 concrete proposals for the future of Europe. The earth demands urgent action, but we cannot ask people to shoulder the costs of the ecological transition while the rich get richer and big companies pay almost zero taxes. Greening our economic model has to go hand in hand with good jobs, social housing, decent wages, child support and fair taxation. This has to become the European Union’s new mission.”