Reflections on Sustainability and SDGs in the Primary Law of the European Union

Vértesy, László (2025) Reflections on Sustainability and SDGs in the Primary Law of the European Union. EURÓPAI TÜKÖR: AZ INTEGRÁCIÓS STRATÉGIAI MUNKACSOPORT KÉTHAVONTA MEGJELENŐ FOLYÓIRATA, 28 (2). pp. 27-41. ISSN 1416-6151

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Abstract

The concept of sustainability is expressly or indirectly embedded in the primary law of the European Union, as analysed in the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The novel contribution of this research is that it illustrates how these documents have, in many cases, been conceived as aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby situating the EU’s constitutional framework as an SDG-compliant normative framework. Whereas ideas of sustainability have typically been construed as limited to environmental protection, this research employs a broader conceptualisation, manifesting it comprehensively across environmental, economic, social and financial dimensions, including fiscal sustainability, macroeco-nomic stability and resource governance. Through an analysis of key CJEU case law, it demonstrates how judicial interpretation through adjudication operationalises the sustainability objectives enshrined in treaties and exposes the tensions between the freedom of the market and environmental or societal aims. The analysis demon-strates that sustainability has moved from a stated and aspirational principle to a structuring feature of EU integration, but there continues to be an ambition that grounds limitations. The EU’s sustainability concept requires a climate-specific treaty provision, a horizontal sustainability compliance mechanism, and the elevation of environmental and intergenerational protection to fully justiciable rights.

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