28.01.2018
The 2030 Agenda presents a great opportunity to address the interlinked challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development. At the international level, all countries will need to enhance policy coherence as an important means to ensure that all policies support progress towards the agreed global goals.
Policy Coherence for Development constitutes a key pillar of the European Union’s efforts to enhance the positive impact of its policies on developing countries, promoting synergies between policies.
The concept of policy coherence for development was introduced in EU fundamental law in 1992 with the Treaty of Maastricht and was further reinforced in the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 (Art.208 TFEU). was reaffirmed in the new European Consensus on Development (2017). This new European Consensus forsees that Policy Coherence for Development will be applied across all policies and all areas covered by Agenda 2030.
It is important to admit the fundamental difference between policy coherence for development (PCD) and policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD). Despite their semantic proximity, PCD is a legal obligation in the EU Treaty, whereas PCSD stems from the 2030 Agenda and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. In addition, in the case of PCSD, given that the SDGs are universal, policy makers have to secure multi-directional coherence by pursuing multiple goals globally, whereas for PCD, coherence is more focused, i.e. it is directed towards a single cause, which is the interest of developing countries.
The new European Consensus on Development has confirmed the role of PCD as part of the EU’s contribution to SDGs and to the broader objective of PCSD. Ensuring PCSD, as embedded in the 2030 Agenda, requires taking into account the impact of all policies on sustainable development at all levels – nationally, within the EU, in other countries and at global level. PCD responds fully to the 2030 Agenda, since it seeks to support developing countries across the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental).
The 2019 EU Report on Policy Coherence for Development, published today, takes stock of progress by EU institutions and Member States on Policy Coherence for Development over the last three years. The Report details the tools and mechanisms applied at EU and Member States’ levels to ensure Policy Coherence for Development. It admits increasing challenges for governments to align their national priorities with development cooperation and 2030 Agenda, at a time of unprecedented global challenges, such as climate change and security considerations, with the multilateral system continuously put to the test. The 2019 EU Report on Policy Coherence for Development is closely linked to the Reflection Paper “Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030”. The 2030 Agenda implied a new perspective for PCD and, consequently, the Commission adapted its approach to PCD and also its reporting thereon to align with this paradigm shift in development cooperation, ensuring that PCD remains relevant in such an evolving policy framework.
