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(3) The Commission report of 15 May 2019 on the evaluation of the 7th EAP concluded that the 2050 vision and priority objectives were still valid; that the 7th EAP has helped to provide more predictable, faster and better-coordinated action in environment policy and that the structure and enabling framework of the 7th EAP have helped create synergies, thus making environment policy more effective and efficient. Moreover, it concluded that the 7th EAP anticipated the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (‘UN 2030 Agenda’) by its insistence that economic growth and social well-being depend on a healthy natural resource base, facilitated delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and enabled the Union to speak with one voice on the global stage on climate and environmental matters, but that progress related to nature protection, health and integrating environmental concerns into other policy areas was not sufficient. It also concluded that there could have been more consideration of social issues in the 7th EAP, by building on the existing links between environment and social policy, as regards, for example, the impact on vulnerable groups, jobs, social inclusion and inequality. Moreover, the Commission report noted that, despite increasingly ambitious environmental targets in many policy domains, spending on environmental protection had remained constant in Europe over many years (approximately 2 % of GDP) and that the failure to implement environmental legislation costs the Union economy around EUR 55000000000 each year in health costs and in direct costs to the environment. The Commission report noted that the 7th EAP’s implementation could have been reinforced by a stronger monitoring mechanism.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.