‘The context of the adoption of the SDGs at the summit of September 2015 is an opportunity to consider the EU activities relevant to this broad agenda, having regard to the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the Europe 2020 strategy’ (Eurostat, 2015).

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN Member States in September 2015 have a bearing on the existing policies, pathways and sustainable development strategies at European level. This framework for the global sustainable development agenda for the next fifteen years includes 17 goals with 169 targets. Global progress towards these goals and targets will be assessed with an indicator set first proposed in March 2016 and expected to be adopted in September 2016.

Since Rio+20, the EU has been developing a common approach to the 2030 global agenda for sustainable development. In the 2013 Communication ‘A decent life for all’, the European Commission showed its commitment to the SDGs. A follow up Communication , ‘A decent life for all: from vision to collective action’, identified priority work areas in relation to the post-2015 framework, including the development of indicators beyond GDP. Then, in February 2015, the European Commission articulated its vision for the 2030 Agenda in ‘A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015’.

Developing countries’ involvement into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development implies an increased necessity of global partnership and engagement. Both the EU and its member states play an active role in shaping the 2030 Agenda, for instance by participating in the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDG) and through public consultations.