E3G

Thinking Event in Brussels

By Chris Littlecott

On the 21st February, E3G held a Thinking Event in Brussels in association with our friends at The Centre. The aim of the event was to undertake some critical shared thinking on whether Europe can become a pathfinder for the global transition to sustainable development. A focus was placed on the economic considerations Europe would face in rising to this challenge.

Discussion Overview

The discussions at the roundtable revealed a shared sense that:

The promotion of the Lisbon Agenda has pushed forward serious thinking on sustainable development, and the two are increasingly seen to be reinforcing.

If Europe is to promote sustainable development at a global level it needs to lead by example. There is currently a coordinated approach to climate change policy but this consistency is not evident in many areas including energy or trade policy.

Europe has strong reasons for taking on this role, however it faces barriers in terms of a lack of confidence in the capacity of the EU to become economically and politically strong enough; an overly defensive and protectionist approach to global affairs; and a lack of trust by citizens in the EU as demonstrated by the French and Dutch “no” votes.

Not only must Europe consider whether it wants to assume this responsibility, and whether it has the capacity/capability, it must also consider how such an approach can be made desirable to its citizens.

The event report and list of participants are attached.