While environment ministers acknowledge the need of resource use reduction, the EU Strategic Agenda is set to ignore it
During the EU Environmental Council meeting on 17 June 2024, ministers from different countries adopted ambitious conclusions on the mid-term review of the 8th Environmental Action Programme (EAP). In the conclusions, they admitted what we have been saying all along: that the EU’s consumption level is unsustainable and current policies are insufficient to bring our material footprint within planetary boundaries. Finally they urged the European Commission to “assess the “establishment of an EU long-term objective for sustainable resource use” as well as an overarching legal framework. This is largely in line with our open letter, although the exact wording could have been stronger.
We welcome the statements of the Environmental Council. For Friends of the Earth Europe and the civil society alliance behind the open letter, the Council conclusions form a hopeful basis for further steps. Now it is up to the European Commission to develop a new legislative act including a binding target for resource use reduction. We therefore call on the Commission to include the initiative in the Work Programme and embark on a timely follow-up.
However, on the same day, EU leaders discussed the outline of the 2019-2024 Strategic Agenda (see below) which doesn’t mention the unsustainable material footprint of the EU at all. There are only a few mentions of climate and energy, but overall it completely overlooks the fact that the overexploitation of natural resources is one of the root causes of the polycrisis that our society faces today – climate breakdown, biodiversity collapse, pollution and social injustices. A narrow-minded focus on expanding industries and increasing competitiveness will jeopardise the objectives of the EAP and impede a green and just transition.
We call on EU leaders to align the Strategic Agenda with the Conclusions on the EAP as well as our demands, recognising the importance of sustainable resources management. Moving beyond growth and reducing our material footprint help to decrease strategic dependencies and increase socio-economic resilience, for the wellbeing of EU citizens.
Image source: Kasper Benjamin Reimer Bjørkskov, adapted from the Circular Gap Report
Background info: Why is the Strategic Agenda important?
A draft of the EU Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 was discussed on 17 June 2024 by EU leaders at the informal European Council summit in Brussels. It falls short of giving a clear direction for a rapid transition to a fossil-free, socially just and climate resilient Europe. The EU Strategic Agenda will directly inform the European Commission President’s political guidelines and the Commissioner mandates, meaning that it will steer the EU for the next 5 years.
