Brussels, 17/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - However pleased they might have been with the Paris climate agreement, EU leaders are sticking for the moment with the targets of the 2030 climate-energy framework they approved in October 2014 - a reduction of at least 40% in greenhouse gas emissions as a binding target, at least 27% energy efficiency savings and at least 27% of energy production from renewable sources - without raising the EU's level of ambition.
Their priority is to see the EU provide itself with the body of legislative proposals needed to implement this framework for action - in other words, they want the EU to have the wherewithal to achieve its unchanged targets. That much was a foregone conclusion since, once the finding of the impact assessment on the impact the agreement would have on EU policies, only a handful of member states explicitly called for the EU to increase its level of ambition (see EUROPE 11505).
Europe's leaders are also keen for the Paris Agreement to be ratified by the EU as soon as possible.
In its conclusions, the European Council calls on the Commission rapidly to present all the relevant proposals so as to be able swiftly to begin the legislative process. The leaders say they look forward to the signing of the Paris Agreement in New York on 22 April. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has invited all the heads of state and/or government to attend the signing ceremony.
The European Council also underlines the need for the EU and its member states to ratify the agreement “as soon as possible and on time so as to be Parties as of its entry into force”.
The agreement will come into force once 55 Parties accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. France, which put down a draft law on national ratification on 9 March with a view to completing the process this summer, hopes that others will follow its lead. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)