When adopting the 2030 Agenda in September 2015, United Nations member States committed to working closely with local and regional governments on the commitment and implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The European Union is actively involved in this process, and Ursula Von der Leyen, the European Commission President, has made it a priority for her team to ensure that the SDGs are mainstreamed via all EU projects and policies, as is the case in the Member States via their Voluntary National Reviews and Voluntary Local and Regional Reviews (NRRPs).

To support this effort the EU Joint Research Centre has published the European Handbook for SDG Voluntary Local Reviews 2022. This edition, built on the first one published in 2020, provides policy makers, urban practitioners and experts with a consolidated method and examples of indicators (the Voluntary Local Reviews) that European local and regional governments can use to monitor the achievement of the SDGs. 

The Committee of the Regions has also supported the effort of the EU in the accomplishment of the SDGs by publishing Synergies between the Sustainable Development Goals and the national recovery and resilience plans. This report analyses the state of the regions, cities and villages in the areas of socio-economic policies post COVID-19.