Institutional set-up and conflict resolution : implementation of the WWWforEurope transition strategy

The WWWforEurope project proposes a new medium to long-term EU Strategy, aiming to transform the present socio-economic model which has resulted in economic stagnation, social fragmentation and irreversible depletion of environmental capital, towards a more sustainable model where social, economic and environmental sustainability are pursued jointly and successfully. When implementing such a strategy, invariably conflicts between competing goals (tradeoffs) will arise. The present essay outlines the procedural and institutional part of this Transition Strategy, where to start and which instruments to apply, but also more importantly which principles and method to apply in order to resolve remaining conflicts. An introductory section surveys the literature dealing with such conflict-resolution aspects. A second section deals with a specific participatory process, proposed here as the template for dealing with conflicts. This method starts with accepting that invariably different views of the world exist which have to be taken for granted, need to be given consideration, and that pragmatic, "clumsy", compromises need to be found to move forward. The third section proposes a replacement of existing EU growth and sustainability procedures by the development of an overarching Sustainability Strategy, combining social, environmental and economic goals and outlining changes in the EU's institutional Setup.