Barroso promises more ambitious sustainable development strategy[fr][de] 

The conference did not follow the usual format of most Brussel's stakeholder meetings, but used an 'open space' format, leading to more involvement and creativity from the participants of the conference. In more than 35 working groups, proposed by the participants themselves, priorities and actions were defined for the EU’s review of the Sustainable Development Strategy. 

Main messages and priorities defined by the conference:

The Lisbon agenda and the Sustainable Development Strategy  mutually reinforce each other. The SDS is the more long-term, overarching principle of all EU policies: 

• Integrated impact assessments (IAs) should be used as a tool for sustainable development. These assessments should measure the economic, social and environmental impact of EU proposals at the earliest stages of policy preparation;  
• The EU needs a more ambitious long term strategy for sustainable energy;
• There is a lack of social objectives in the SDS: themes like poverty, social exclusion and ageing society are too absent in the debate;
• The EU has to do more for the sustainable use of natural resources (IPP, decoupling, ecolabeling, shifting taxation from labour to non-renewable resources); 
• More debate is needed on the relationship between WTO trade liberalisation and sustainable development; 
• The local and regional levels need more support from the EU’s SD strategy: stiff sustainability requirements are needed for actions taken as part of Structural Funds programmes;  

Some other specific recommendations that were proposed in the working groups:

Some participants of the conference questioned whether having two different strategies (Lisbon and Gothenburg) with two different stakeholder audiences, is not structurally damaging for both strategies. According to some, this dual strategy reinforces the  highly ideological debate about the equality of the three pillars (economic, social, environmental) of both strategies.

Several participants from business organisations criticized the lack of a strong economic pillar in the current sustainable development strategy.

In a speech to the conference, Commission President Barroso expressed his full support for the review of the sustainable development strategy. "I will [...] make sure that the complementary nature of our work on sustainable development and on the Lisbon strategy is brought to the fore. [...] the Lisbon and Sustainable Development Strategies mutually reinforce each other. Both contribute to the goal of improving welfare and living conditions in a sustainable way for present and future generations," said Mr Barroso.

The Commission President promised a reviewed strategy with "clearer objectives and targets", new "innovative instruments" to deliver, clearer governance and better monitoring.