Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Towards a global partnership for sustainable development"

(COM(2002) 82 final)

(2002/C 221/20)

On 14 February 2002 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned communication.

The Sub-committee on Towards a global partnership for sustainable development, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 15 May 2002. The rapporteur was Mr Ehnmark.

At its 391st plenary session of 29 and 30 May 2002 (meeting of 30 May 2002) the Committee adopted the following opinion by 85 votes, with 1 abstention.

Summary

1) The Earth Summit in 1992 raised high expectations that a new global coordinated effort was under way in support of the developing countries and regions. With elaborate preparatory work and the emergence of broad consensus in its resolutions and recommendations, the Earth Summit gave every sign of being a milestone in the global pursuit of progress, welfare and safety. Ten years later, however, it is necessary to recognize that the Earth Summit was a success verbally but not operationally. The calls for solidarity in action for development have not materialized.

2) The United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted in September 2000, set out a new global platform for progress and welfare with eight fundamental goals (see footnote). An ambitious timetable was set for seven of the goals. The Millennium Declaration raised new and high expectations that now a new global effort was under way in support of development and welfare.

Two years later, however, it is necessary to recognize that the Declaration so far mainly has been a success verbally. The calls for solidarity have not materialized in action for development(1).

3) The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), in September 2002, is a new opportunity. High expectations have been built up. The preparatory work, however, gives more reason for worries than for hopes. WSSD should perhaps best be seen as one more step in a long process - but a step that has to produce tangible results and agreements on concrete action. There is no need for more solemn declarations. WSSD should focus on global partnerships and firm commitments launching global sustainable development, with priority to poverty eradication. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the participating governments and organisations not to lose this focus. WSSD must be the occasion for all nations and peoples to shoulder responsibility for the well-being through solidarity of this generation and those to come.

4) Specifically, it is of paramount importance that WSSD give a strong signal to the peoples of the World that there is from then on firm commitment from both developed and developing countries to join in a new and major effort for global welfare and progress. It is vitally important that WSSD sweep aside the clouds of uncertainty and disappointment left over from the Earth Summit. This is no time for another time-out in the joint efforts for global development. Steadily our globe is moving towards a situation with severe limits for mankind to exist. There must be a start with a major effort for our common welfare and future. WSSD's job is not to renegotiate the recommendations from the Earth Summit, or the Millennium Goals, but to agree on action to implement them. Let it not be said in two or ten years' time that the WSDD was yet another disappointment! No, take the positive results from the Food World Summit, and the Monterrey Conference on Development Financing as pointing the way to success at WSSD!

5) The basic agenda for the World Summit stands, as formulated by the Earth Summit and the Millennium Declaration. The launch at Doha of a new agenda for development and trade must be followed up, as well as the Monterrey agreement on development finance. Poverty reduction and management of natural resources are key issues: the reversal overall of the trend towards environmental degradation is of overarching importance. Sustainable development must very clearly include economic, social and environmental objectives.

6) Since the Earth Summit, some features have grown in importance. The signs of imminent environmental crisis is one such. The vicious circle of poverty, diseases and illiteracy is another. A third is the emergence of a global knowledge-based economy, which creates new challenges for developing countries. As a recent UNCTAD report makes clear, there is a real risk that developing countries stay confined to relatively low-skill inputs to products and services in this new global economy. Human resources development will be all the more essential. The EESC proposes that education and training be given an overarching priority at WSSD.

7) Sustainable development is essentially a matter of solidarity, between generations and between peoples and nations. The European Union has shown responsibility by taking the lead in deciding a strategy and programme for sustainable development. The global impact of this decision should not be underestimated. The EESC fully supports the Council and the Commission in their endeavours to take forward the decisions of the European Summit in Gothenburg 2001. With these decisions on sustainable development the European Union has been able to project a new platform in international cooperation and a leading role for itself. This is a unique opportunity. The European Union should take the lead in forging a concrete WSSD action programme and in giving shape to partnerships needed to ensure the real work gets done.

8) The EESC fully accepts the importance of the eight Millennium Development Goals, decided in 1999. The Committee particularly emphasises the importance of the first three of these: - cutting by half over 15 years the proportion of people whose incomes are below one US$ a day, - achieving universal primary education by 2015, and - eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and in other levels of education by 2015. In total, the eight goals represent an extremely ambitious agenda for shaping a better world. To achieve this, we need more research directed towards the key development issues, and particularly in energy, climate change and transport.

9) The EESC emphasises the need for achieving at WSSD a coherent policy and action mix that sets the eight Millennium goals within a context of the three pillars of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental. It would be disastrous if WSSD brought deadlock between environmental protection and economic and social development. To help avoid that, strong emphasis must be laid on the close links between certain major factors effecting sustainability, such as population growth, environmental degradation, poverty and economic stagnation.

10) The EESC has taken note of the positive outcome of the Monterrey Conference on financing development. This can be taken as a break-through in the field of mutual commitments for development. At the same time, it must be emphasised that aid does not alone solve the problems. With radically better trade options for developing countries, there will be less pressure for development aid. With constructive debt relief, there will be better options for the developing countries to embark on new efforts. However, flat debt relief may not always yield the expected results. The EESC recommends that debt relief be conditioned on measurable progress leading to sustainable development, including increased environmental protection. The EESC recommends the EU to examine further the scope for renewed efforts to expand debt relief for developing countries.

11) Progressive elimination of trade barriers is an essential tool for promoting development. The European Union has taken a forward-looking step with its decision to abolish tariffs on all parts of trade ("everything but arms") with the 48 poorest countries. The EESC calls on other developed countries to take similar steps. It also calls on the European Commission to explore the possibilities of extending the "everything but arms" deal to more developing countries.

12) The creation of new jobs is a key feature in any plan for reducing poverty. In the past job creation has too often been at the expense of the environment. This has to be changed. WSSD should insist on the positive linkages between environmental good practice and job creation. It should moreover establish job creation as one of the basic pathways for reaching the Millennium goals. Job creation should go hand in hand with promotion of core labour rights.

13) WSSD should highlight the importance of women in the development process, particularly in the least-developed countries. New partnerships should be established with the objective of providing education and training particularly for women, and covering both basic issues such as food safety and health and economic ones such as development of cooperatives and business techniques.

14) Agriculture output has to be raised radically in the developing countries if the objective of cutting by half the proportion of those in extreme poverty is to be met. Helping their farm sector to be viable and self-sustaining is a delicate but essential part of any global sustainable development strategy.

15) If developing countries are to benefit from globalisation, good government and effective administration are most important. The WSSD should launch partnerships for the training of administrators in the developing countries.

16) Foreign Direct Investment by business constitutes the major part of the financial flow to developing countries. An objective of WSSD should be to establish partnerships for investment between business and governments. This could be part of endeavours similar to the United Nation's Global compact initiative. As shown in many studies, business investments are directed increasingly to places with highly competent labour.

17) Sustainable development on a national, regional and global scale presupposes advanced knowledge generated in research and development. Sustainable development is in itself a call for strengthening the knowledge factor. The EESC proposes the launching of new global scientific networks working on the long-term issues of sustainable development, particularly in the fields of energy, water supply and food safety.

18) Organised civil society, including the social partners, have an important mission in promoting sustainable development, on a national, regional and global scale. In the whole development process, organized civil society must be closely involved, contributing to social, economic and environment programmes. Organized civil society also has a key role in raising understanding. The EESC proposes the setting up, as the EU is doing, of national, regional or global biennial stakeholder fora, as a means of public involvement in promoting and monitoring sustainable development.

19) The EESC calls on the governments participating in WSSD to do their utmost to steer the Summit to a constructive, concrete and clear result, launching new efforts for economic, social and environmental progress on the global level, and presenting action for reaching the eight Millennium development goals. High expectations for this have been built up. NGOs and other active bodies in society are heavily committed and supportive. It is indeed a unique opportunity.

1. The road to Johannesburg

1.1. The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro launched sustainable development as a global objective, with the three pillars of economic, social and environmental development as equally important and mutually interlinked. The key word for this global objective was and is solidarity, between generations and between peoples and countries.

Sustainable development is essentially a total picture of action with the aim of shaping a good life for the present generations without jeopardizing the options for the next generations.

The Summit emphasised that in practical terms, sustainable development had to be build on participation, ultimately at local and provincial level. Under the headline of Agenda 21 a vast array of initiatives was welcomed.

1.2. In general terms, however, it is an obvious truth that the expectations of Rio have not been met.

On a global scale, a number of set-backs have been registered, notably the difficulties in the adoption of the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions.

The delays in meeting the Rio objectives with concrete action can also partly be seen as an effect of the global economic downturn during the 1990s. It is, however, a very obvious observation that countries have found the Rio objectives to be more difficult to implement than expected.

1.3. From one group of countries, however, a concrete and challenging answer has been given to the Rio expectations.

For the European Union the Council endorsed in June 2001 a far-reaching strategy and action plan for sustainable development, and emphasised that all future initiatives and actions should be assessed in terms of impact on sustainable development.

The EU is thus setting itself a profile as a global leader in transforming the objectives from Rio into concrete political actions.

1.4. Of particular importance in the EU strategy is the commitment by member countries to develop national strategies for sustainable development, and to deliver annual reports on what is being done. This gives a valuable opportunity to compare actions and results.

1.5. The preparatory work for WSSD has lasted for a number of years, with a vast number of policy studies, seminars and conferences. One key recent event was the international conference on the financing of development in Monterrey. By most standards, the Monterrey signal to the developing world was positive: the developed countries agreed to make substantial increases in development assistance over the next few years, reaching the overall level of 0,7 percent of GNI within 8 years (which means an additional US dollar 200 billion in development aid).

1.6. Within the European Commission, preparatory work started in essence with a communication on experience after Rio, issued in the Spring of 2001.

1.7. The European Commission suggested four strategic objectives that the EU should seek to obtain through the Summit:

- increased global equity and an effective partnership for sustainable development;

- better integration and coherency at the international level;

- adoption of environment and development targets to revitalise and sharpen the political commitment; and

- more effective action at national level with international monitoring.

1.8. In February, 2002, the Commission adopted a new communication in respect of WSSD.

In this Communication, the Commission sets out the case for a new global partnership for sustainable development and identifies issues on which attention should be focused at the World Summit - and which can be addressed in concrete terms. Because of the difficulties in the preparatory work at the United Nations level, the priorities of the EU for the WSSD are under review with a view to making them more operational focussing on education, health, fisheries, forests, water, energy, funding, governance and policy coherence.

2. Shaping a global strategy for sustainable development

2.1. The preparatory work for WSSD at the United Nations reveals similar planning issues as those treated by the EU.

2.1.1. Sustainable development is by definition a programme based on parallel and interacting considerations concerning economic, social and environmental issues. Rightly, it has been stated that the most important aspect of the SD strategy is to have elevated environmental issues to the same high importance as economic and social ones. However, the interaction between the three pillars has proved difficult to illustrate and concretise. Which are, to take an example, the links between environment objectives and job creation? Or to put it another way, how to avoid conflict between environment on one side and economic and employment development on the other?

The experiences from the EU demonstrate that the theories behind the interacting three pillars require a new, modular way of planning.

2.1.2. The European Summit in Gothenburg in June 2001, solemnly declared that SD should be the new overriding objective for the Union and that all proposed new actions and programmes should be subjected to SD impact assessments. In reality, this high ambition has been very difficult to reach. Policy coherence between a wide and disparate set of organizations is most difficult to achieve. Ultimately, it will probably necessitate policy coordination at a very high government level. Otherwise, the objectives of SD can be cut back to a vision with no real impact.

2.1.3. Sustainable development will in a longer perspective have profound effects on issues such as transport and energy consumption, and will influence policies for food safety and agricultural output. Counteracting climate change is a key case; reducing waste of natural resources another. The list can be much longer. The point is that all policies which affect and change every-day life of citizens must ultimately be based on active and full support from the citizens themselves. Strategies for SD cannot be built only top down, even if they may have to be started that way. A parallel process from bottom-up is necessary.

Active consultation with organized civil society, including the social partners, and active participation from their side in monitoring and implementation of actions for SD is a necessity and in reality the only way to reach a successful result.

2.1.4. SD strategies are most often seen as dealing exclusively with economic, social and environmental issues. However, since SD strategies are by nature inter-national, there are also other dimensions that deserve attention. Understanding why another country has taken a specific SD decision means trying to understand some of the history or value systems of another country. The consequence is that SD strategies must provide for communication and cultural awareness with regard to other, neighbouring countries.

2.2. The Millennium declaration on key development goals to be achieved within a limited time represents a break-through in the global attempts to shape a long-term and concrete policy for global development. The decision to adopt the eight objectives was taken by the UN, IMF, World Bank, OECD, G7, G20 and all major developed and developing countries.

Against this background, one of the very crucial challenges for the World Summit in 2002 will be to agree on how to define priorities and modalities in the implementation of these Millennium goals.

2.3. Obviously, key issues at WSSD will be How and When and with Which resources, rather than setting new objectives.

2.3.1. Of particular importance will be issues such as the:

- improvement of the terms on which the poorest countries participate in the global economy and in particular adoption of an improved trade regime for them;

- adoption internationally by business of high corporate standards for engagement as reliable and consistent partners in the development process, and a

- substantial transfer of additional resources from the richest to the poorest countries in the form of investments for development.

2.3.2. The list is in fact an illustration of the effects of globalisation and the challenges it sets for both developed and developing countries. Governments have to take note of the intensively competitive climate in the globalised world economy. Efficient administration is more important than ever. Shaping an attractive investment climate requires political leadership, good management and capacity for forming partnerships. Trade is more and more becoming a key issue in the development process. Official development assistance and direct investments add to the resources but trade is for most countries the heart of the matter.

2.4. The task of the World Summit is indeed multiple: it has to address at global level long-term issues for achieving sustainable development, while at the same time reconciling popular fears of globalisation with proposals for standards in fields such as health, consumer protection and the environment, and ensuring that fundamental labour standards are maintained.

3. A platform for the EU in Johannesburg

3.1. The Commission Communication of February 2002, lists some 39 EU actions grouped under six headlines: trade, fighting poverty and promoting social development, sustainable management of natural and environmental resources, improving the coherence of EU policies, better governance at all levels, and financing sustainable development.

The EESC supports this more focused way of defining the priority issues as actions for the WSSD.

The EESC comments as follows on the Commission communication.

4. Harnessing globalisation: trade for sustainable development

4.1. The Doha Development Agenda is the basis for the agreement at the World Summit on trade issues. The task of the World Summit should be to identify measures that support and complement the DDA and Monterrey processes. This is an area of incentives for environmentally and socially sustainable production and trade.

4.2. The Commission is proposing eight more specific issues for further EU work and action, including promoting the participation of the developing countries in the international trade system, by way of pressing ahead within the WTO. The Commission would like to reinforce the role of the Generalised system of preferences (GSP) for sustainable development by introducing in 2004 a more modulated system; the Commission advocates in more general terms a strengthening of the sustainability dimension of bilateral and regional trade agreements.

4.3. The EESC supports the outline of the proposal for an EU position on trade and development. The proposal is congenial with the EU positions at the Doha WTO meeting.

4.4. However, the Committee would add a few comments. The WTO, being the key instrument for promoting trade, should itself find reason to develop its stance and profile and give its programmes and actions a more human face. The Committee is planning to work on an opinion with exactly this in view.

4.5. There is scope for further initiatives to promote trade between developing and industrialised countries. Recently, it has been suggested from one EU country that an expert assistance centre (a kind of "ombudsman") be established to help developing countries find their way past administrative hurdles facing their exports to the developed countries. The Committee finds such an initiative worth examining also in the context of WSSD.

4.6. One issue that would have been expected in the Commission communication is the "everything but arms"-initiative and the question of how to motivate other countries to follow suit. The initiative applied to the 48 least-developed countries. Now is the opportunity to look into the possibility of extending this initiative further.

4.7. The Committee has taken note and strongly endorses the Commission proposed action to encourage European companies' commitment to corporate social responsibility by supporting adherence to the OECD guidelines for foreign investors, and by developing initiatives as a follow-up to the Commission's Green Paper promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility.

4.8. Trade stimulates direct investment in particular for production facilities. The shaping of a positive climate for such direct investments by business is crucial. The development agenda from Doha provides for steps in this direction. The Monterrey conference added more. The UN Global Compact constitutes another. Some NGOs, including OXFAM, and Think-tanks have added more in recent times. The World Bank is pursuing an ambitious programme aimed at raising human resource levels by way of skills teaching, education and training. The ILO has added an important dimension with its Decent Work programme.

4.9. The EESC finds it urgent and essential that WSSD agree, in its follow-up to Doha and Monterrey in particular, on a platform of measures for stimulating greater FDI in LDCs.

4.10. At the same time WSSD must take account of the need to fashion an overall policy covering aid, investment and debt relief. For many developing countries debt relief continues to be a key issue to be resolved if they are to become more self-reliant and able to make better use of resources from abroad.

The EESC calls on the EU to examine further the scope for renewed efforts to expand debt relief for developing countries.

5. Fighting poverty and promoting social development

5.1. The Commission focuses on actions for poverty reduction and eradication of hunger, in line with the Millennium development objectives. Specifically, it proposes to further focus EU development policy on the central objective of poverty reduction, to be reflected in tighter concentration of resources on LDCs and on the poorest groups in developing countries.

5.2. The EESC supports the proposed actions. It is essential that they, as the Commission emphasises, include measures for water supply and sanitation, and in a wider sense measures for health services with access to - and tiered pricing of medicines.

5.3. The Commission proposes to integrate further the gender perspective in relevant EU policies. The Committee would have appreciated fuller analysis of this aspect, even bearing in mind that the Commission last year published a communication on gender issues in development policies(2). An EU platform for the World Summit presents a major opportunity for communicating on these issues.

5.4. The role of women in changing life-style patterns and for promoting acceptance of new ways is essential and cannot be overestimated. Educational efforts in this regard should therefore give priority to reaching out to women, as should actions to assist in changing food, health and sanitation habits.

5.5. In this context, the decision taken by the United Nation's Conference on Population and Development (UNCPD) in 1994 should be recalled. The UNCPD agreed that access to family planning services and acceptance of reproductive rights of women are prerequisites to improving the situation of women.

5.6. The Committee has noted the proposal to promote research on issues related to sustainable development and strongly supports it. The Committee has, inter alia, taken note of new research projects on modalities for changes in production and consumption patterns. This is obviously an area where it is urgently necessary to have more basic information - and a wider basis for dialogue.

6. Sustainable management of natural and environmental resources

6.1. The first priority is to reverse by 2015, both nationally and on the global scale, existing trends in the loss of environmental resources. A second priority objective is to develop sectoral and intermediate objectives in some key sectors - water, land and soil, energy and bio-diversity.

6.2. More specifically, the Commission plans to launch an initiative at the World Summit for a global partnership to promote sustainable water resources.

6.3. The EESC supports the Commission proposals under this important sector headline. The proposals for water and for energy, in particular provision of renewable sources of energy, are highly relevant and should be given very high priority at the World Summit. Some countries and regions may well lead the way but for global solutions to be sustainable, best practice and latest technology has to be updated and spread far and wide across the globe, not kept as a privilege of the few.

6.4. In this context, further development of the EU SD strategy is in itself one of the best contributions that can be made both to the World Summit and to work thereafter. Plans for an EU action programme on forest law enforcement, governance and trade is an important contribution, as well as initiatives at an international level to address violations of forest law and forest crime. Developing an EU strategy for distant water fisheries is another good instance.

6.5. Ratification of the Kyoto protocol is a key step in long-term efforts to halt climate changes. However, even as the Kyoto protocol is being ratified, there is need to start looking ahead, at further and future steps. Here, the EU could take an initiative with respect to new commitments to higher emission reduction targets.

6.6. One proposal notes the need to encourage investments in affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly modes of transport. The Committee would have welcomed further extrapolation of this point.

6.7. Transport is becoming a major item in all SD strategies, be it in developed or developing countries. It is closely related to both urban and rural development and to the way societies organise their work and living. It is closely geared to developments in transport technologies. The Committee would appreciate if the Commission could address this problem area in a vigorous way.

6.8. The Commission suggests that the EU attach particular attention to promoting regional and sub-regional responses to environmental and social as well as economic challenges, within the overall objective of creating sustainable development. Such an approach could be used as part of the Euromed cooperation.

6.9. The Committee strongly supports this, as it is in line with the experiences of the Committee in cooperation within the Mediterranean area. The Candidate countries represent another challenge; as Members, they will automatically be part of the overall EU strategy, but they will need considerable support before accession and after to catch up with the present Member countries.

7. Improving the coherence of European Union policies

7.1. In line with the structure and direction of the EU SD strategy, the Commission emphasises the need for new initiatives to review policy coherence across all policies related to sustainable development.

7.2. The Committee has had the occasion to underline the key importance of this a number of times.

It reiterates its firm opinion that the institutions of the European Union must take more vigorous steps in order to achieve the degree of policy coherence needed to implement a coherent policy for sustainable development - be it within the European borders, or as part of a global effort resulting from the World Summit.

8. Better governance at all levels

8.1. A priority is to ensure good governance at all levels and within all countries so as to achieve common sustainable development objectives.

The Committee noted the Commission's observations on the need for efficient and communicative governance at all levels, actively involving organised civil society including the social partners in both planning and implementation.

The Committee has had occasion to comment on this in previous opinions on sustainable development(3).

8.2. The role of business in promoting development should be promoted. The UN has launched the Global Compact initiative as one mechanism for promoting active business involvement in the development processes, and in reaching the Millennium objectives.

8.3. The EESC strongly supports this initiative, and would like to express its hope that parallel initiatives can be taken at national or European level.

9. Financing sustainable development

9.1. The Monterrey UN conference in March 2002, reached an agreement on slow but steady increases in the amount of financial resources to be made available for sustainable development. On the whole, the outcome of the conference should be taken as a success.

Obviously, these resources will not be enough. On the other hand, they represent an important change of trend.

9.2. One key issue for further consideration will be how to stimulate a further increase in direct investment in developing countries. Here again, the heart of the matter lies in the criteria which determine where investment is made. And again, the importance of human capital is at the centre.

The EESC, in supporting the Monterrey agreement that industrialised countries should increase their ODA levels to app. 0,7 % of GNP, calls for further initiatives to stimulate direct private sector investment.

10. Additional issues for a global strategy for sustainable development

10.1. The European Commission has presented a well-focused platform for the negotiations before the Johannesburg World Summit. The EESC has commented on this above.

In addition to these considerations, the Committee would like to propose the inclusion of the following issues in the negotiating platform for the World Summit.

10.2. The Millennium objective of primary school for all children by the year 2015 must be seen as the first step in a major global investment in human capital. Vocational training partly included in primary school, partly beyond, should be the next strategic step in shaping a Global Knowledge Society. A recent UNCTAD report has underscored the risks for developing countries of not investing more in education and training: the high-skill components of products remain import items, and only low-skill parts are located to a developing country.

10.3. The EESC proposes that the World Summit should consider setting up a special committee with the twin task of monitoring implementation of the Millennium objective and setting out plans for a major vocational training effort. The emergence of a global knowledge-based economy necessitates a new urgency in the investments in education and training.

10.4. The role of women in shaping sustained development can easily be underestimated, due to traditional and/or cultural patterns. In the least-developed countries, women have a particular role in changing food, health and sanitary habits.

10.5. The EESC proposes that the World Summit highlight the importance of women in the development process and initiate a joint new effort for supporting women who try to become economically active as entrepreneurs, by way of training, micro-level capital, administrative support, sharing of experiences. The European Union should take special responsibility for initiating such an effort, by way of partnerships with social partners, industry, training bodies, commercial institutions and international bodies.

10.6. The Millennium objective to halve the numbers living at or below US dollar 1 per day by 2015 requires a vast number of interacting initiatives. Job creation is one of the obviously most important. Job creation relies on production possibilities, the existence of markets, the availability of investment capital and education and training options, to mention but those. It also depends to some extent on needs and available financing of public utilities. Above all, there must be consumers and markets for products and services.

10.7. The EESC calls on the World Summit to focus on the importance of job creation as a tool for reaching a number of development objectives. The Committee proposes that a special International Task Force be set up with the purpose of identifying strategies and measures for job creation, in the light of the results of the Monterrey Conference and the World Summit itself.

10.8. The population issue has an obvious and integral importance in all consideration of sustainable development. Some new trends in population statistics may indicate that previous trends are not so irreversible as many had thought. Some 13 of the most populous countries have indicated sharply falling birth rates, to or under the level of two children per woman. The obvious cause is that increasing numbers of women seek to enter the labour market.

10.9. The EESC, in recognition of the significance of new statistical trends, suggests that on the subject of population growth the World Summit could conclude that a new global study is needed on current trends for birth rates, and in the light of that on strategies for achieving balance between economic, social and environmental development on the one hand and population development on the other. The study should also take into account the ageing of populations all over the Globe, and the demographic and economic consequences of this.

10.10. The large urban conglomerations in developing countries offer particular challenges for sustained development. In an often extreme way, some rural areas do the same. In both cases, the current situation is the result of many years of incapacity to understand and act on the complex factors causing overpopulation in urban areas and underpopulation - and often extreme underdevelopment - in rural areas. At the same time, the very large conglomerations constitute major problem-areas for food, health, housing, sanitation, pollution, education, law and order, transport, etc.

10.11. The EESC is convinced that global measures for sustainable development must include special efforts to correct unsustainable trends in urban and rural areas, both in developing and also in a number of industrialised countries. The Committee proposes that the World Summit notes the situation in urban and rural areas in many developing countries and calls on the countries to share experiences and solutions. Preparations should start for a global programme on Sustainable Megalopolis.

10.12. In line with the Rio Conference ten years ago, countries should elaborate national strategies for sustainable development. In the European Union, a number of countries have done so, at the request of the European Council at Gothenburg in June 2001.

Although such national action plans are at a first stage of development, they constitute a rich well of information and experience. The Committee proposes that the European Commission in cooperation with relevant international institutions establish new and easily-accessible data and information services make this information open for all.

10.13. Energy and transport are inevitably placed in the forefront of all deliberations on sustainable development. The Economic and Social Committee has presented its views on these issues on a number of occasions.

Given the importance of these issues and the existence of a considerable amount of research and analysis on them, the European Economic and Social Committee proposes that a joint stock-taking be initiated by the World Summit. The purpose would be not so much to find new solutions but to establish a broad state-of-the-art survey, as a basis for new measures.

10.14. Industry has an obvious and essential role in development efforts. A number of new initiatives have been taken to involve industry more in projects and to invest more in production in developing countries.

10.15. The EESC has noted the various initiatives taken to involve business and industry in the processes of economic, social and environmental development. It is a fact that their greatest effort has been made under the first pillar of sustainable development. The Committee, convinced that industry at large will understand and appreciate the benefits of active involvement in social and environmental development as well as economic, proposes that the World Summit express its support for full involvement of industry in the process of sustainable development and give due weight to the OECD guidelines for multi-national corporations.

The Committee welcomes initiatives such as the Global Compact, and expresses its hope that this specific initiative will be spread more widely.

10.16. The Social Partners and organised civil society at large have a crucial role to play in global sustainable development, on all sides. The European Commission has recognised this, as has the UN preparatory committee - although the latter has so far failed in its efforts to agree on a text.

10.17. The EESC emphasises its own position that the social partners, and organised civil society at large, have an essential role in the full cycle of these processes, from an early planning stage through monitoring, implementation and finally evaluation and follow-up.

10.18. The Committee reiterates its position that representatives of social partners and of organised civil society at large should be given the opportunity to take part in broad stock-taking exercises, biennially or every third year. Such stakeholder fora should constitute an essential opportunity for democratic participation, transparency and accountability.

11. The Role of the European Union

11.1. The difficulties in reaching an agreed platform for WSSD - and preliminary agreements in line with that - suggest that the Summit may end up with more limited results than expected. This would be most sad and regrettable. In such a situation it must be of the first importance for the EU to take on a leading role in trying to forge a platform and an action programme that could find broad agreement in Johannesburg.

11.2. Global sustainable development is an area for which the EU can furnish a very particular contribution based on experience within the Union itself. The EU must be prepared and ready to play a very leading role in the lead up to Johannesburg. It must furthermore be ready to assume an active role in the follow-up to WSSD.

11.3. In this long process of global development the next station after Johannesburg should not be ten years ahead. The conclusions of WSSD should include a full and vigorous agenda for the follow-on.

Brussels, 30 May 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) The 8 Millennium Goals are the following:

- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; halve between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people with incomes below US dollar 1 per day;

- Attain universal primary education by 2015;

- Promote gender equality and empower women;

- Reduce child mortality;

- Improve maternal health;

- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;

- Ensure environmental sustainability;

- Develop a global partnership for development.

(2) COM(2001) 295 final.

(3) ESC opinion on "The preparation of a European Union strategy for sustainable development" - OJ C 221, 7.8.2001;

ESC opinion on "A sustainable Europe for a Better World" - OJ C 48, 21.2.2002;

ESC opinion on "Sustainable Development Strategy" - OJ C 94, 18.4.2002.