Was there a notion of ‘enough’ in the European Green Deal? Sufficiency in the European Union’s sustainability discourse

Purpose This study aims to discuss the role that sufficiency, as a measure of “enoughness”, played in the European Union’s (EU) sustainability-focused discourse embodied in the European Green Deal (EGD) agenda, its 2019–2024 flagship socio-ecological transformation programme aimed at net-zero emissions by 2050 and protecting its “natural capital”. Design/methodology/approach This study uses discourse analysis to examine how sufficiency is represented across major strategic policy initiatives emerging from the EGD during the period 2019–2024. Findings This study finds that, despite the discursive window of opportunity provided by the EGD, notions of sufficiency remain weak and underspecified at the EU level, essentially taking the form of informational tools to spur citizens’ sustainable behaviour. Practical implications This study reveals that a discourse that merely provides a window of opportunity for but does not mandate sufficiency-oriented policies is insufficient to counter the long-standing bias of EU sustainability-oriented discourse towards technological solutions aimed at efficiency gains. Social implications This study argues that by omitting what are ultimately low-hanging fruit related to avoiding consumption, the EU risks not attaining self-set climate and environmental aims. It also makes proposals on how to address this omission in EU sustainability policymaking. Originality/value This study represents the first attempt at analysing the role of sufficiency in EU-level policy initiatives. The puzzling finding that sufficiency-oriented tools remain underused despite the EGD’s vow to comprehensively address “this generation’s defining task” of climate and environmental challenges requires further academic and normative scrutiny.