PRESS RELEASE The EU - a pilote for sustainability? The transition of Central and Eastern Europe as a regional and global opportunity for walking the talk Embassy of the Hungarian Republic in London, May 25th, 2007.

 

In the last two decades, Europe has been occupied with the handling of three major political processes running in parallel: the conflict between environment and development threatening the world economy, the security challenge of the collapse of the Soviet empire, and the legal and logistic upheavals of the “exponential” enlargement of the EU. One could argue that – so far – the first remains a failure, the second a valuable remis, and the third by and large a success. As far as the first problem is concerned, however, scholars agree that there is not much time left for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat: world politics will have to take a decisive turn towards sustainability in the next decade, or face the worldwide domino effects of the collapse of the natural framework conditions such as climate, and resource bases such as major ecosystems. It has been argued that among the major political actors on the global scene, only the EU is capable to lead the international community out of the present dangerous waters. The solution of the abovementioned three challenges requires some common elements, such as the necessity of a “post-rivalry” attitude, a “post-material” concept of wellbeing, and a “think globally – act locally” approach. The EU used to have some credible records in these. But can the EU be a pilot for the global fleet through the straits leading to the safe haven of “circular world economy”? Will it have its own internal successes, experiences credible and transferable? In other words: can the EU navigate its own plans? And is it willing to do so? The enlargement of the EU reshaped the Union and its neighbourhood area. The regional differences in Europe at present arguably model – to a certain extent – global differences, and offer a pilot project in sustainability implementation. In Europe, and even within the EU, there are very wealthy areas with high per capita material consumption, very efficient technology and workforce, sophisticated political and legal systems, and a tradition of the rule of law. These areas have high per capita emissions, an ecological footprint many times the size of their own, and have transformed most of their own natural capital in to other forms of capital. And there are areas in the EU and its European neighbourhood with poverty, low per capita material consumption, inefficient technologies and workforce, policy implementation deficit, and weak enforcement of laws. Some of these areas hold much of what remains from the natural capital of Europe. The accession of Central and Eastern Europe to the EU offers the possibility to the EU to get both the experience and the credibility for the global discussion by using its own internal regional tensions as driver of sustainable development. Will the EU embark on the pilot project of creating a “sustainability bubble” among its member states? Will Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean have a role in this effort? For more information please contact: Zsolt Bauer Head of Communications Tel: (36-26) 504-069 E-mail: zsbauer@rec.org

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