Ricerc@Sapienza

Sustainable development has acquired a prominent role in the Treaties, and this is even more true after the Lisbon Treaty included it among the common objectives of the external action in Article 21 TUE, attaching to the enunciation of this principle also the obligation to promote it in the outer world. This article examines the role of sustainable development in the text of the Treaties and considers the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice after the Lisbon Treaty. It argues that the introduction of sustainable development among the cross-cutting objectives of the external action had a significant impact on the definition of the external policies, first of all the common commercial policy and the development cooperation policy, expanding their borders to encompass issues such as labour standards and sustainable management of natural resources, while the Court’s constant reference to the international notion of sustainable development helps the Union keep pace with the evolution of this principle at international level.