Commission’s Sustainable Development Package must be taken further

On 22 November, the European Commission presented its strategy for the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through three communications. For the record, all of the United Nations member states committed in September 2015 to achieving the SDGs by 2030. Reducing poverty and inequalities, ensuring access to quality education and social protection, protecting biodiversity and the oceans and providing (sustainable) development assistance for vulnerable countries. In total, 17 global goals comprising 169 targets were adopted. This strategy, which will now be discussed by the heads of state and the European Parliament, covers both the EU’s external policies and its domestic policies. This is very good news: since the SDGs do not concern only the developing countries, they are not limited to the EU’s trade or cooperation policies. They also imply changes to domestic and European policies. [...] >> Read the op-ed online   [...]