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From:
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Working Party on Development Cooperation
Subject:
A sustainable European Future: The EU response to the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development
- Revised draft Council conclusions
- Comments from the 
Please find enclosed, for information, comments from the 
 on the second revised draft of
the above Council conclusions.
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ANNEX 1 
A sustainable European future: 
The EU response to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 
 
- Draft Council conclusions - 
 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 
 
1. 
UNDERLINES that sustainable development lies at the core of European values and 
constitutes an overarching objective of the European Union as set out in the Treaties; 1 
 
2. 
RECOGNISES the responsibility of the EU and its Member States, within their respective 
competences, to promote sustainable development domestically and globally in a coherent 
way as well as addressing the domestic and global impact of their actions on the economic, 
social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development; 
 
3. 
RECALLS the leading role of the EU and its Member States in the process that led to the 
adoption of "Transforming Our World: 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"2 (2030 
Agenda) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General 
Assembly in September 2015; 
 
The EU response to the 2030 Agenda
 
 
4. 
REITERATES the EU and its Member States’ full commitment  to this transformative and 
ambitious 2030 Agenda, and the importance that the EU and its Member States attach to 
driving forward its implementation as a plan of action for People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace 
and Partnership; 
 
5. 
STRESSES that the sustainability challenges are interdependent and can only be tackled 
effectively by addressing the interlinkages of the SDGs in a holistic and coherent approach 
factoring in the three dimensions of sustainable development at all levels; 
                                                 
1  
Articles 3(3) TEU and 21(2) TFEU. 
2  
A/RES/70/1  

 
 
6. 
STRESSES the commitment of the EU and its Member States to achieve the 17 SDGs by 
2030, ensuring that no one is left behind and seeking to reach the furthest behind first; 
RECOGNISES that greater effort is needed by all actors to promote social inclusion 
especially of youth, women and girls; UNDERLINES that comprehensive and sustained 
measures are needed to address the multidimensional nature of poverty and growing 
inequalities between and within countries and to provide opportunities for all to fulfil their 
potential, now and in future generations, while protecting our planet, its biodiversity and its 
natural resources; 
 
7. 
UNDERLINES that good governance, the rule of law, democracy, and effective and 
accountable institutions are prerequisites for peaceful and inclusive societies; REAFFIRMS 
that the EU and its Member States will implement a rights-based approach encompassing all 
human rights, while promoting inclusion and participation, non-discrimination, equality, 
equity, transparency and accountability; 
 
8. 
UNDERLINES that gender equality is at the core of EU values and is enshrined in its legal 
and political framework. The empowerment of women and girls and the full realisation of 
their human rights and fundamental freedoms are vital for achieving all the SDGs and cut 
across the whole 2030 Agenda. STRESSES that gender equality is essential for achieving 
peace and security, equitable economic progress and sustainable development. REITERATES 
that the EU and its Member States should ensure development and implementation of gender 
responsive and transformative policies as a key contribution to the successful achievement of 
the SDGs; 
 

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9. 
RECALLS that the 2030 Agenda is global in nature, universally applicable and based on 
global partnership, national ownership and shared responsibility; it is supported by a 
comprehensive approach to the mobilisation of all means of implementation as spelled out in 
the Addis Ababa Action Agenda 3 on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of 
the 2030 Agenda.  STRESSES that all UN Member States will need to contribute to the 
implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order to realise its 
transformative potential, taking into account different levels of national development and 
capacities and respecting national policies and priorities; 
 
10.  CALLS for an integrated, comprehensive implementation of the 2030 Agenda that builds 
synergies with the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sendai 
Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, the New Urban Agenda4 and other international 
commitments. These multilateral commitments demonstrated the necessity and the capacity of 
all UN Member States to work in partnership on global issues; UNDERLINES the crucial 
importance of a rules-based global order, with multilateralism as its key principle and the 
United Nations at its core for a peaceful and sustainable world; 
 
11.  RECOGNISES that the ambitious implementation of the 2030 Agenda is an opportunity and 
positive prospect for the European Union. UNDERLINES the need for ambitious EU policies 
that contain responses to the challenges, which the EU and the world face today and the 
opportunity the SDGs present in achieving a socially, environmentally and economically 
sustainable society by 2030. EMPHASISES the need for the EU to complement the 
implementation efforts by the Member States and to focus on policies where it has added 
value; 
 
12.  WELCOMES the Commission Communication on "Next steps for a sustainable European 
future" of 22 November 2016 5 as a first step in mainstreaming the SDGs and applying 
sustainable development as an essential guiding principle for all EU policies, including 
through its financing instruments, procurement, partnerships with business, cohesion, and the 
use of better regulation tools; 
                                                 
3 
http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffd3/press-release/countries-reach-historic-agreement.html. 
4  
A/RES/71/256 
5 
14774/16 - COM(2016) 739 final + ADD 1. 

 
 
13.  WELCOMES the Global Strategy for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy for 
the European Union which sets out the strategic vision for the EU's external action and 
identifies clear links with the 2030 Agenda. RECOGNISES that a prosperous Union also 
hinges on an open and fair international economic, financial and trade system and sustainable 
and equitable access to the global public goods. STRESSES that the SDGs are a cross-cutting 
dimension of the Global Strategy; 
 
14.  [WELCOMES the Joint Statement on a new European Consensus on Development – Our 
World, our Dignity, our Future and UNDERLINES that the new Consensus reflects the new 
development paradigm and a transformative shift in development cooperation;] 
 
Next steps towards achieving the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at EU level 
 
15.  CONFIRMS that the EU and the Member States are strongly committed to implementing the 
2030 Agenda in a full, coherent, comprehensive, integrated and effective manner and in close 
cooperation with partners and other stakeholders, including sub-national authorities, civil 
society, the private sector, social partners and academia; 
 
16.  REQUESTS the Commission while respecting the principle of subsidiarity to continue 
steering the EU policy framework to ensure that existing and new EU policies are in line with 
the SDGs and their targets; and by that contributing to equality for all, human dignity, healthy 
and resilient planet, fair, inclusive peace and resilient societies and sustainable economies; 
 

 
17.  URGES the Commission to elaborate, by mid-2018, a strategic framework outlining timelines 
and concrete measures to reflect the SDGs in all relevant policies. This framework should be 
based on a clear vision of how all relevant EU policies will contribute to the realisation of the 
SDGs. To this end, the Council invites the Commission to identify gaps in relevant policy 
areas, and assess what needs to be donedefine policy objectives for all SDGs reflecting the 
internal and external dimension and global impacts of the EU’s domestic actions  in terms of 
EU policy, legislation and means of implementation until 2030 and set a governance structure 
which defines the tasks of the Commission project team, designates a committee for 
sustainable development by directorate generals as well as sustainability coordinators in each 
directorate general;: INVITES the Commission to conduct impact assessments as regards the 
mainstreaming of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs as guiding principle in upcoming reviews of 
major and horizontal policy instruments and strategies, including the European Semester, and 
define a clear process for consideration of the SDGs in post 2020 policies. ENCOURAGES 
the Commission to integrate the 2030 Agenda in the discussion on the future of Europe and  
17.18. 
 
18.19.  UNDERLINES the importance of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) as a 
fundamental part in achieving the SDGs and an important contribution to the broader 
objective of Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD). The 2030 Agenda 
provides new impetus for the EU and its Member States to formulate and implement 
mutually reinforcing policies; REAFFIRMS the EU and Member States’ commitment to 
ensure inter-linkages, coherence and consistency between the different policy sectors by 
making use of existing mechanisms and adjusting them where required to address the 
challenges of sustainability and transformation; The PCSD in its broader sense requires not 
only institutional and cross-sectoral coordination but also analytical and monitoring capacity 
to identify incoherent policies and measure their impact. The strengthened Regulatory 
Scrutiny Board can be used in assessing Commission proposals’ sustainability and impact 
on Agenda 2030 implementation.” 
 
 
 
Partnerships and stakeholder involvement for the 2030 Agenda implementation 
 
19.20. 
REAFFIRMS the EU’s support to effective multilateralism particularly in the 
framework of the United Nations (UN). The integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda requires 
that its implementation, follow up and review are supported by a UN System that works in a 

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more integrated fashion and is fit to deliver flexible and efficient solutions to the global 
challenges of our time. WELCOMES the reform steps already taken in the UN in this 
direction and STRESSES the EU and its Member States’ support; LOOKS FORWARD to 
effective implementation of further and comprehensive UN reforms, including, but not 
confined to, those outlined in the 2016 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review, working 
across agencies and ensuring complementarity of effort in the UN system; 
 
20.21. 
WELCOMES the G20 commitment to take forward the implementation of the Action 
Plan on the 2030 Agenda and make its concrete actions more visible; 
 
21.22. 
RECALLS the shared responsibility and interest of all stakeholders in implementing the 
2030 Agenda, including that of public administrations, the private sector and investors, social 
partners, scientific community and civil society organisations (CSOs); RECALLS its 
Conclusions on Responsible Global Value Chains6 and on Business and Human Rights7
RECOGNIZES the key role of sub-national governments in implementing the 2030 Agenda; 
WELCOMES the engagement of European businesses and academia including the scientific 
community, UNDERLINES their key role in providing solutions for sustainable development 
in promoting science-policy interface in implementation, follow-up and review; 
HIGHLIGHTS the need for global business to adopt sustainable approaches  and commit to 
responsible business conduct (RBC) in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational 
Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ; 
 
22.23. 
UNDERLINES the need to raise awareness of EU citizens, especially its youth, and the 
private sector on the transformative potential of the 2030 Agenda and to raise levels of public 
engagement and responsibility and political leadership in addressing the SDGs at all levels, 
local, national, EU and global thus contributing to global citizenship; 
 
23.24. 
WELCOMES the Commission's intention to establish a multi-stakeholder platform 
which should be inclusive and underpinned by a balanced composition; STRESSES that the 
platform should enable all stakeholders to contribute with their best practices, policy 
recommendations, ideas and innovative potential to the EU’s SDG implementation approach. 
In doing so, the platform should build on the expertise of existing sustainable development 
                                                 
6  
8833/16 
7  
10253/16 

 
networks and peer learning mechanisms, such as the European Sustainable Development 
Network (ESDN), to foster and disseminate the exchange of views and best practices and to 
contribute to the vertical coherence of implementation efforts at EU and MS level; 
 
Means of implementation 
 
24.25. 
UNDERLINES that the full range of resources, both domestic and international, public 
and private, will be needed for the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda in all 
relevant policy areas. CALLS ON the Commission to assess how the programmes and 
instruments within the next Multiannual-Financial Framework (MFF) can support the 
implementation of the 2030 Agenda; 
 
25.26. 
RECALLS that several EU policies and financial instruments contribute in a horizontal 
way to SDGs implementation, including the cohesion policy which aims at reducing 
disparities between the various regions in the EU; 
 
26.27. 
WELCOMES the proposed extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments 
(EFSI 2.0), which lies at the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe with a target to mobilise 
at least half a trillion euro of investments by 2020; NOTES that the Commission proposal for 
extending EFSI 2.0 includes the aim to make at least 40% of EFSI financing under the 
infrastructure and innovation window contribute to climate action; 
 
27.28. 
WELCOMES the proposed initiative for the External Investment Plan (EIP), including 
the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) that will encourage the mobilization 
of investments, particularly from the private sector, for sustainable development and for 
addressing the root causes of irregular migration. The EIP should also step up technical 
assistance and support reforms to scale up substantially investments in developing countries. 
STRESSES that supported sustainable investments must be in line with the desired transition 
towards a sustainable, environmentally sound and inclusive economy, and not come at the 
expense of our climate, the environment or human rights; RECALLS its ambition to make the 
EIP operational during 2017; 
 

 
Follow-up, monitoring and review 
 
28.29. 
RECOGNISES the primary responsibility of Member States in the follow-up and 
review at national, regional and global levels of progress towards the SDGs and 
REITERATES Member States’ commitment to conduct regular and inclusive progress 
reviews at the national and subnational levels, where relevant, in a participatory manner; 
 
29.30. 
UNDERLINES that a robust, systematic, effective, participatory, transparent and 
integrated follow-up, accountability and review framework of the SDG implementation helps 
the EU, its member states and stakeholders to maximise implementation and track progress, 
assess achievements and ensure complementarity of policies and measures. Such review 
should complement and not duplicate existing review mechanisms;  
 
30.31. 
UNDERLINES the central role of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF)– in the 
follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda at the global level as an important forum for 
dialogue and mutual learning. UNDERLINES the need to ensure that EU and individual 
Member State progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is reported in the context of 
the HLPF at regular intervals, including through voluntary reviews. This will contribute to 
ensuring accountability to citizens; WELCOMES that many EU Member States have 
volunteered to give national presentations to the HLPF; INVITES the Commission to prepare 
for the first EU report at the High-Level Political Forum when it convenes under the auspices 
of the UN General Assembly in 2019. 
 
31.32. 
RECALLS that the 2030 Agenda requires quality, accessible, timely and reliable 
disaggregated data to measure equitable progress covering the three dimensions of sustainable 
development so as to ensure that no one is left behind; NOTES the work undertaken at UN 
level to complete the global indicator framework; CALLS on the Commission and the 
Member States to use data and information from existing reporting mechanisms where 
possible and to ensure alignment where appropriate with the work of the Inter-Agency and 
Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals Indicators and to actively support the 
measurability and further development of the SDGs indicators; UNDERLINES the need to 
avoid duplication of efforts while developing the respective monitoring frameworks; 

 
 
32.33. 
CALLS UPON the Commission to carry out more detailed regular monitoring of the 
SDGs at EU level, including where relevant in the context of the European Semester, and to 
develop a reference indicator framework for this purpose and to improve people’s well-being 
across the three dimensions of sustainable development drawing on existing indicators and 
data provided by the Member States, accompanied by a qualitative assessment of the progress 
made; CALLS on the Commission and Member states to use this indicator framework to 
assess progress and trends and to inform decision-making; 
 
32.  COMMITS to assess the impact, as soon as possible, of the 2030 Agenda in the respective 
policy areas and identify any implementation gaps and actions to be taken to ensure full, 
coherent and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda in all relevant EU policy sectors; 
 
33.  COMMITS to regularly take stock at Council of the progress made in the implementation of 
the 2030 Agenda at the EU level. 
 
34.  UNDERLINES the primary responsibility of Member States’ governments in the follow-up 
and review at national, regional and global levels of the progress made in the implementation 
of the SDGs and REITERATES Member States’ commitment to conduct regular and 
inclusive progress reviews at the national and subnational levels, where relevant, in a 
participatory manner. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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UNDERLINES the importance of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) as a fundamental part in 
achieving the SDGs and an important contribution to the broader objective of Policy Coherence for 
Sustainable Development (PCSD).  The 2030 Agenda provides new impetus for the EU and its 
Member States to formulate and implement mutually reinforcing policies; REAFFIRMS the EU and 
Member States’ commitment to ensure inter-linkages, coherence and consistency between the different 
policy sectors by making use of existing mechanisms and adjusting them where required to address the 
challenges of sustainability and transformation; The PCSD in its broader sense requires not only 
institutional and cross-sectoral coordination but also analytical and monitoring capacity to identify 
incoherent policies and measure their impact. The strengthened Regulatory Scrutiny Board can be 
used in assessing Commission proposals’ sustainability and impact on Agenda 2030 implementation..” 
 
Note: 
The Regulatory Scrutiny Board – RSB is an independent body of the Commission that ensures a 
systematic central control of legal proposals´ quality. At the same time, it  examines Commission’s 
impact assessments for new initiatives. In 2016 the RSB issued its view on 60 legislative proposals out 
of which 25 received a negative opinion (they were subsequently either withdrawn or re-assessed and 
allowed to proceed).1  In 2017 the RSB is about to issue views on 70 legislative proposals (Energy 
Union, Circular Economy etc.). 
 
We are convinced that RSB could be very easily adjusted to play an important role in assessing the 
sustainability of EC´s proposals and their coherence with stated sustainable development policies of 
the EU and Agenda 2030. Similarly, several member states already have introduced regular 
sustainability impact assessment for their new national legislation.  
 
This proposal builds on already existing structure and procedures. RSB was created to contribute to 
the implementation of the Better Regulation agenda and policy coherence is one of the key principles 
of better regulation. 
 
The idea to use the RSB follows up on the recommendation by Mr. Karl Falkenberg, Senior Adviser 
for Sustainable Development to the President of the EC2 that stated: 
 
„Even if the sustainability concept is more adequately built into the system from early stages the 
Commission might also want to strengthen the role of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) in 
assessing the sustainability of Commission proposals against the economic, social and environmental 
impacts. The RSB assessment would be of advisory nature, but should be publicly available, as part of 
transparent governance. It would require the definition of clear and timely indicators.“ 
 
 
                                                            
1 See Annual Report 2016: Regulatory Scrutiny Board (available from 
http://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2016-rsb-report_en.pdf). 
2 For more information see EPSC Strategic Note, Issue 18 from 20 July 2016, p. 11 (available from 
https://ec.europa.eu/epsc/sites/epsc/files/strategic_note_issue_18.pdf)