Incorporating the SDGs into EU external action must be part of a broader overarching EU strategy for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The strategy should set out the role of the EU in relation to implementation of the SDGs by member states and cover both external and domestic policies.

The 2030 Agenda is a universal agenda. All the Sustainable Development Goals are relevant to Europe and should be addressed across a range of EU policies. Responsibility for the SDGs cannot be assigned to one part of a government or of the Commission but must be taken forward in an integrated and coherent manner, with different Ministries or DGs having ownership and responsibility for the implementation of 2030 Agenda. Indeed, development cooperation is only one of the policy areas that must be reviewed. 

This briefing is based on the WWF response to the European Commission’s public consultation on revising the European Consensus on Development. It proposes elements which WWF believes crucially need to be reflected in the European Consensus and in the EU approach to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Overall, the revision of the European Consensus presents an important opportunity for the EU, as a major donor and global actor, to realign its policies with the principles and goals set out in the 2030 Agenda and to tackle environmental, social and economic challenges in an integrated way.