“Sustainable development” in contemporary EU law: solving the semantic puzzle

The term “sustainable development” has become an iconic and omnipresent expression reaching the dimension of a command in the European Union. However, it is an ephemeral term with ambiguous and contradictory meanings employed in different manners and contexts in current EU law. In this plethora of opinions, the very content is challenged and the entire modern concept of “sustainable development” might lose its momentum. This leads to the burning issue of its deeper understanding, interpretation and application, which can be holistically addressed by identifying the roots of the term, and engaging with the interpretation of EU primary, secondary and supplementary law referring to it. The juxtaposition of these findings suggests that the term “sustainable development” is a semantic puzzle with a solution.