We deplore Commission delaying EU position on implementation of 2030 Agenda development goals

Ahead of the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPF) meeting, the EPP Group calls on the Foreign Affairs Council to adopt a coherent and common EU position on the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The HLPF, responsible for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, will meet for the first time in July to discuss the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

"The EPP Group is concerned that the Commission has not yet published a Communication on the follow-up to and review of the 2030 Agenda ahead of the HLPF meeting, as requested by the Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Development. It would serve as a basis for a common EU position. We now expect the Council to set out the EU position on the follow-up and review, taking into account the Parliament's resolution on this issue," said Davor Ivo Stier, Rapporteur on the 2030 Agenda and EPP Group Spokesman in the Development Committee.

The EU and the Member States collectively are by far the world's largest donor of development aid.

"The EU led the process towards the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under the UN. This is commendable and a great success, a success that was to a great extent the result of coherent and coordinated action by the EU and the Member States. Adopting the Agenda was a promise by world leaders to eradicate extreme poverty, achieve sustainable development and bring dignity and justice to all."

"Now we must deliver on the promises we made; we must transform words into action and implement the Agenda. The EU, as the global leader in development, bears the largest responsibility for promoting the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, both internally and externally. So it is imperative for the EU's credibility in the international development community for the Council to present the common position of the EU and its Member States at its meeting on Thursday," concluded Stier.