PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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environmentalists also strongly reject the strategy’s intention to support research, and
development of technology related to nuclear energy (or rather: nuclear waste).
5.2.6 The Gothenburg European Council
The Gothenburg European Council in June 2001 “agreed on a strategy for
sustainable development” (p.1) and, congruent with the SDS, selected four policy priority
areas in which to develop guiding measures and objectives: climate change, transport,
public health, and natural resources. Yet once again, the EU’s discourse is steeped in an
industry-friendly, technology-oriented rhetoric that emphasizes the win-win character of
integrating sustainability objectives into policy-making. The presidency conclusions do,
however, also reemphasize the necessity to achieve economic growth without
proportional increases in resource use (European Union 2001:4):
Clear and stable objectives for sustainable development will present significant
economic opportunities. This has the potential to unleash a new wave of technological
innovation and
investment, generating growth and employment. The European Council invites
industry to take part in the development and wider use of new environmentally
friendly technologies in sectors such as energy and transport. In this context the
European Council stresses the importance of decoupling economic growth from
resource use.
The transport-specific conclusions of this important Council are described in section
5.3. below.
5.2.7 The EU White Paper on Governance
The new EU White Paper on European Governance (Commission of the European
Communities 2001h) puts forth five general principles for good, democratic governance
in the EU which can be seen as stand-ins for what is usually considered “social