The Importance of the Concept of Sustainable Development in the Formulation of the Assumptions of Contemporary European Public Security Policy

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development at the level of international discussion was introduced in 1987 by the Brundtland report (Our Common Future). Its appearance can be regarded as a breakthrough in the current thinking about society and nature. In order to achieve sustainable development there is a need to combine three elements: social equality, economic growth and efficiency, and environmental issues, while preserving resources for future generations. In recent discussions on the concept of sustainable development, the Eurocentric attitude has prevailed, as the result of embodiment of this development in the economic strategies of developed and the most socially responsible countries. At the outset, discussion on the concept of self-sustaining development related to the problems of underdeveloped countries in the 1960s and had little in common with the economic and social advancement. Developed countries, thanks to their resources and instruments, can become transmitters of the concept, securing and stabilizing the situation in the countries neighboring the EU. Cooperation within the Mediterranean basin is an example of such a security policy of the EU towards developing countries that are recipients of both resources and knowledge associated with the concept. Mutual cooperation in establishing a framework for the concept is conducive to the common security of the Mediterranean region. The aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of sustainable development in the context of contemporary European security policy and law enforcement objectives given the close neighborhood of Europe and the MENA region as culturally diverse societies.