President Juncker delivered his State of the Union (SOTEU) 2017 address on Wednesday 13th of September. Just like last year, his speech made no mention of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is despite the fact that the EU has endorsed and, at least in theory, is committed to implement this ambitious and overarching agenda.
Civil society is extremely disappointed at the EU’s failure to date to concretely engage in the effective coordination of Member States and the implementation of Agenda 2030, although it did play a central role in shaping this new global agenda. The almost total absence of reference to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in President Juncker’s speech this year reinforces the growing view that there is a real lack of political will at EU level where this important sustainable development agenda is concerned.
You can find a more in-depth analysis by the SDG Watch Europe Steering Group on the SOTEU published on our website – please find the full text here. We highlighted this Elephant in the Room in front of the European Commission on 25 September 2017 – the second anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals.
This was part of a massive Global Day of Action called Act4SDGs on 25 September: 917 events were organized in 116 countries around the world, including 129 alone in Europe – among them in 22 EU member states, by SDG Watch Europe members, members of members and many others. Clearly these numbers show the substantial support of citizens and civil society for the Agenda 2030. You can find the map with all the European and global events here: www.act4sdgs.org. You find examples from Spain, Italy, Austria, Ireland and Latvia in this newsletter.
This is the first email newsletter of SDG Watch Europe! We will use this to keep you informed on the sustainable development agenda in the EU from the next Multi Annual Financial Framework (MFF) to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This includes news and analysis of EU Institutions, EU member states governments, civil society at European and national level and other stakeholders. Please share this newsletter and give us your feedback inputs. Let’s make Europe sustainable for all.