Brussels, 12/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - No stone was left unturned, but to no avail. At the Environment Council of Friday 9 March 2012, Poland vetoed any intermediate step beyond the target of a 20% reduction in greenhouse emissions in the EU by 2020 (compared with 1990) as a step towards an EU emissions reduction target of 80% by 2050 (see EUROPE 10570). Poland repeated its June 2011 veto, to the dismay of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which had put the emissions reduction “roadmap” top of the agenda and was determined to negotiate for as long as it takes.
The negotiators tried every trick in the book - talks among all 27 member states, drafting compromises stating that the 40% emissions reduction target for 2030 and 60% for 2040 are not compulsory, and individual talks to try and convince the Poles - nothing worked. The meeting was extended and the other 27 member states finally had to make do with a Danish Presidency conclusions document, rather than a Council of Ministers' conclusions document. The European Commission and the Danish Presidency will continue the fight, the Commission buoyed by its right of initiative and the Danish Presidency by the fact that transition to a low-carbon economy is a priority for its six months at the helm of the EU.
At a press conference after the talks, Danish Climate, Energy and Construction Minister Martin Lindegaard said that agreement had not been reached on the roadmap because unfortunately, for the second time, one delegation had vetoed the publication of a conclusions document although the other 26 supported the document as a way of making progress and asking the Commission to draw up practical proposals. He said it had been a hard day and tough talks and the Danish Presidency was pleased that 26 delegations backed the Presidency conclusions document. Ironically, it was as a gesture towards Poland that the mention of a feasible and viable 25% emissions reduction target for 2020 had been removed from the roadmap in June 2011 and is, therefore, not included in the Presidency conclusions document. Lindegaard said the European Summit had asked the Danish Presidency to make progress and it would seek ways of doing so, all member states together.
The Commission will plough ahead. EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard was less diplomatic, saying it would have been better to have all countries on board: “The bad news was that Poland blocked Council conclusions for the second time. The good and encouraging news is that Poland was the only country to block. The Presidency and the other member states explicitly asked the Commission to move on, and that is what we will do”. She said the Commission would prepare the necessary legislation, including special carbon trading regulations and would never allow a single country to prevent progress if 26 wanted to move forward. The new legislation would include “suggested stages” for 2030 and 2040 for a low-carbon future and the Commission will work with various industries that have produced their own roadmaps. The process is already in motion because the European Council wants an energy savings directive to be adopted in June 2012 and for the draft EU budget for 2014-2020 to make a significant commitment to reducing climate change. At a press conference, Polish environment minister Marcin Korolec, disappointed that he had not been able to win over his EU colleagues, said that the EU's climate policy is part of the world climate policy and the two have to intermesh, considering what the other countries have introduced. At the UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, the international community had decided that global talks to decide on the third Kyoto Protocol period would begin in 2015 and, therefore, it is too soon to decide on the next stages. Korolec said the ECOFIN Council conclusions of May 2011 were extremely important and nothing more was currently needed. Pointing out that Poland is 95% dependent on coal for generating its electricity, he said that the Commission had to present impact assessments for the various industries and countries, along with different objectives from those approved in 2008.
NGOs slam Poland's attitude. Development NGOs CIDSE and APRODEV say: the “irresponsible Polish veto on emission reductions is bad for Europe and the world's poorest”, describing it as jeopardising international negotiations. Environmental NGO Friends of the Earth Europe says: “It is outrageous that one member state repeatedly refuses to acknowledge the long-term benefits of reducing emissions quickly and in a planned way into the next decade and beyond”. CAN EUROPE (Climate Action Network Europe) says: “Poland has once again shown its true colours as a progress blocker, and further isolated itself from the rest of the EU and its own citizens, who support more climate efforts”. Environmental NGOs see the results of the meeting as showing the EU's inability to deal with failings in the carbon market and make use of the benefits of a more ambitious approach to climate change, or for that matter to respond to progress in international climate talks and are, therefore, calling for the matter to be discussed at the next European Summit and measures to be taken to take stronger action and bring Poland back within the EU27 fold. (AN/transl.fl)