The EU's double-track pursuit of sustainable development in the 2000s: how Lisbon and sustainable development strategies ran past each other

For almost a decade, the EU has pursued sustainable development not with one but with two overarching strategies: the so-called Lisbon Strategy and sustainable development strategies. While the Lisbon Strategy was a genuinely European policy response to global economic and social pressures, which was superseded by the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy in 2010, sustainable development strategies are ongoing cyclical processes that aim to better coordinate and integrate economic, social and, in particular, environmental policies at both the EU and Member State levels. This paper explores the horizontal governance linkages that existed between the two strategies. It first contrasts the Council rhetoric, emphasizing the complementarity of the two strategies with their different histories and governance arrangements. This paper then shows that the Council rhetoric of complementarity never materialized in the everyday governance routines of the two strategies, and provides three explanations for this finding. Based on these findings, this paper finally provides a brief outlook discussion on how to proceed with the governance of sustainable development in Europe.