Margot Wallström, out-going EU Commissioner for Environment, lays out her reasons for believing the EU is going to make the leap to sustainability. There's a lot of rhetoric here, about getting prices right and investing in science and technology for the future, but it's rhetoric you don't often hear any North American politician using:

"I believe Europe’s future competitiveness depends on fully embracing sustainable development today. Sustainable development provides a unifying vision and answers for Europe, based on democracy and equality with a collective responsibility for a “European way of life.” It has the potential to become a guiding principle for Europe's development and to help us reach a balance between economic freedoms, social justice and a healthy planet - not only in Europe itself, but globally.