Economic governance and sustainability

The chapter reviews the chief economic principles, approaches and contributions to sustainability (ranging from European economic integration to welfare and environmental economics) and characterises the evolution of sustainability thinking in the EU. EU environmental policy was initially researched from the perspective of regulation and EU governance, but more recently economists have studied it from an efficiency viewpoint (notably carbon trading). The chapter analyses the EU economic governance construct with a view to the delivery of (environmental and economic) results. It includes the Lisbon / Europe 2020 Strategy, which has increasingly incorporated environmental next to efficiency concerns in the EU’s economic reform agenda, and the role of the climate change challenge. Finally, it discusses the potential and limitations of a EU low-carbon and green growth strategy.