Sustainable development in the European Union : monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context : 2019 edition

Sustainable development is firmly anchored in the European treaties and has been at the heart of European policy for a long time. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, gives a new impetus to global efforts for achieving sustainable development. The EU is fully committed to playing an active role to maximise progress towards the sustainable development goals. This publication is the third in the series of Eurostat's reports monitoring progress towards the SDGs in an EU context. The analysis in this publication builds on the EU SDG indicator set, developed in cooperation with a large number of stakeholders. The indicator set comprises around 100 indicators and is structured along the 17 SDGs. For each SDG, it focuses on aspects relevant from an EU perspective. The monitoring report provides a statistical presentation of trends relating to the SDGs in the EU over the past five years ('short-term') and, when sufficient data are available, over the past 15 years ('long-term'). Indicator trends are assessed based on a set of specific quantitative rules, visualised by arrow symbols. The publication also takes an aggregated look at EU progress on the level of the 17 SDGs.