The international conference “Europe Ambition 2030 - Make Europe the world leader of sustainable development: a unique opportunity to build a stronger European Union” took place today, upon the initiative of ASviS and other international organizations, in the Italian Chamber of deputies’ Sala della Regina on the occasion of the Sixtieth anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. It was a great achievement and the issues addressed proved to be of considerable interest for both the attendees and the social media public, with the hashtag #EuropeAmbition reaching over 1 million accounts on Twitter and registering almost 7 million impressions.

The organisers of the event, who promoted the coalition Europe Ambition 2030, discussed how Eu governance and policies should be redesigned to encompass the realization of the SDGs as a new basis for the achievement of the Union’s aim to “promote peace, its values and the wellbeing of its peoples” (art. 3, Lisbon Treaty).

The discussions were introduced by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, who emphasized the need to rethink our pace: “Implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda means building a more democratic Europe. Let us not forget that the European Union stemmed from social justice considerations. One may ask: where did we lose our way? We must aim at a “triple social A” for our Continent, as suggested by the report issued by the Committee of experts we consulted after widespread public consultations”. She continued: “The time is now, we have to act now”.

The minister of the Economy Pier Carlo Padoan stated that “Growth cannot but be inclusive and sustainable. Or else there will be no growth”. Demonstrating the Italian government’s commitment to promoting inclusive growth, the minister also announced the inclusion of the Bes indicators (Equitable and sustainable wellbeing indicators - Benessere equo e sostenibile), useful for the social evaluation of economic policies, in the next Economic and Financial Document, along with gender budgeting to assess the impact of reforms on women and men.

Enrico Giovannini, Céline Charveriat and Tom Vereijken’s speeches focused on the relationship between the 2030 Agenda and the evolution of the Eu. “The Europe we are aiming at must bravely reaffirm its values, recognize the urgency of the economic, social and environmental challenges it is facing and place the objectives envisaged by the UN’s 2030 Agenda at the centre of its policies”, declared Giovannini, spokesman of ASviS.

According to Céline Charveriat, Executive Director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy (Ieep), “60 years since the Rome Treaties it is time for Europeans to reunite. Achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030 will build a safer, more just and sustainable Europe”.

“Today we launch a great coalition of organizations, champions of sustainability representing businesses, civil society and the public sector. This coalition is designing a new vision for “Our” Europe, introducing a new narrative for the Eu and its citizens”, stated Vereijken, president of European Partners for the Environment (Epe).

Following the above, two roundtables of discussion focused on the role of non-state actors and on their partnership with public institutions. The event also saw the participation of a number of “young leaders” discussing the need to relaunch the European project.

The organisers of the Europe Ambition 2030 Conference drafted a “sixth scenario” for Europe titled “Transforming Our Europe”, building on the fact that the five advanced by the Eu Commission in its White Paper on the future of the Union have been generally considered unsatisfactory. This new scenario is centred on governance and other innovations that could reshape the structure of the Eu across the 2017-2019 timeframe, before the elections take place. The aim is for Europe to better serve and protect its citizens, empower non-state actors, foster a news system of development and ensure resilience by bringing forth new forms of collaboration with its neighbours.

ASviS and the other international organizations of the Europe Ambition 2030 coalition also invited those who believe in a European transformation to co-sign an open letter to the Heads of State and Government to promote the role of Europe as the world’s SDGs frontrunner.

Over 150 European Champions have already responded to our call (see the list of signatories). Towards the end of the Conference, the letter with the list of signatories was handed to José Herrera, minister for Sustainable development, the environment and climate change of the government of Malta, which holds the presidency of the Council of Europe this semester.

Yet there is still some time: we encourage the individuals who wish to be part of a new vision for Europe and the organizations that want to join Europe Ambition 2030 to sign our open letter to support the transition towards a more prosperous, competitive and inclusive society by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

Programme of the event
Press release (ITA)
Video of the conference
Enrico Giovannini's presentation
Letter of Eesc (European economic and social committee) President George Dassis to Giovannini

The Open Letter is available in:

Italian
English
French
Spanish

To co-sign the Open Letter, please fill out the following form:

edited by Lucilla Persichetti