Press Release: Commission takes stock of progress on sustainable development

In recent years the EU has mainstreamed sustainable development into a broad range of its policies. In particular, the EU has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and the promotion of a low-carbon economy. At the same time, unsustainable trends persisted in the EU in several areas and the efforts needed to be intensified. Three years into the implementation of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy the Commission has taken stock of developments at EU level and on 24 July, 2009, launched a reflection on how the EU strategy could be taken into the future.