It is more than likely that the EU and its member states will be unable to ratify the Paris Agreement before the end of the year. The members of the European Parliament's environment committee meeting on Thursday 1 September in Brussels, however, have said that they will do everything to achieve the impossible. Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), the chair of the committee and rapporteur for ratification, called on all his colleagues to show support, so that the Parliament can put appropriate pressure on all member states.
The swiftness with which he prepared his report attests to the rapidity with which the Parliament will play its role in this process. This meeting after the summer break also focused on the examination of the draft ratification of the Paris Agreement on behalf of the EU, which the Parliament is examining. It also focused on the examination of the 202 amendments to the draft resolution on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and on the Marrakesh COP 22.
The draft resolution on ratification will be voted on during the environment committee on 8 September and at the October plenary. It highlights the urgent nature of ratification, which will help allow the entry into force of this historic agreement. This will only be possible when the 55 parties accounting for 55% of all global emissions have submitted their ratification instruments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Moreover, although 178 countries have signed the Paris Agreement, only 26 have submitted their ratification instruments.
It is unthinkable that the agreement will enter into force without the EU. So far, only three EU member states - France, Hungary and Austria - have completed their national ratification procedures but they have not yet submitted their respective instruments. They are waiting for the other countries. This subsequently means that only 1% of global emissions are currently being covered. These emissions are from the small countries, the biggest of which are Norway, Cameroon and South Korea. La Via deplored the sluggishness of the process.
"The Paris Agreement is a key result in the fight against climate change; it is an ambitious balanced and fair agreement, which is legally binding. The EU played a fundamental role in it. It is inconceivable that the agreement enters into force without the EU having signed it. It is important to call on the Council and all member states to adopt all the necessary measures as soon as possible, with the objective being the ratification by the EU and its member states and the submission of ratification instruments before the end of 2016", he said. He also pointed out that last March, the EU had been the first to submit its intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) to the UN, which include a reduction in its emissions of at least 40% in 2030.
"The draft ratification decision sends out a message to member states to make our commitment quite clear. This is an essential priority". His request did not go unheeded.
Gilles Pargneaux (S&D France) emphasised that "more than nine months after Paris, it is now high time for us to pass from words into deeds before the COP 22" on 7 November. Forty-nine parties to the Paris Agreement have announced that they will have submitted their instrument for the COP 22. Pargneaux announced that he would submit an amendment so that the EU can ratify the agreement without having to wait for the decisions from the 28 member states. He also said that "Ségolène Royal, the chairperson of the COP 21, told me yesterday that there was no need to wait" and highlighted the importance of "continuing to be the driving force, us and the European institutions". He said that the October plenary had to "emphasise that the European Council can make a decision" and explained that he had called on the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, to invite Royal, as the chairperson of the COP 21, to this plenary.
Peter Liese (EPP, Germany) highlighted the need to ensure that the European Parliament was able to fulfil the ratification conditions as soon as possible.
Julie Girling (ECR, UK) is the only one to have said that they needed to "encourage ratification but not to make this the central question. It is just a formality”. She is aware that some of the large member states do not want to ratify before having developed their implementation plan but she immediately added that "British policy is more ambitious than the Paris Agreement. Therefore, there is no reason not to ratify it. It is just an institutional and administrative question of procedure".
Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) rejected this assertion strongly and said "it is very important because it is a sensitive issue for the EU. We are taking a global leadership role but we will not be the first to submit our instruments, because China and the US will announce ratification at the G20 for this year and Brazil is taking action. The European Commission acted swiftly and did its work. The European Parliament can act fast. The United Kingdom is posing a problem", he said, stating that the British commitment to take action "as soon as possible" is the subject of different interpretations. Belgium is the only member state that has to go through different parliaments.
Marco Affronte (EFDD, Italy), said the ratification had to occur in as tight a framework as possible and explained: "I do not know whether the EU can act independently but we need to put the agreement into practice as soon as possible".
Mission impossible but the Commission is trying to put things into perspective. The European Commission representative recognised that "the euphoria was short lived" and confirmed that some countries are subject to constitutional requirements and "will not all be ready to ratify before the end of 2016… We have to include it in the political communication and reflection", the representative said. Eager to put this aspect into perspective, the representative immediately explained that the EU and its member states would do all they could to achieve the collective objective. "Ratification is a very important stage but the ratification instruments and national contributions will not be enough to fulfil the objectives agreed at Paris, which are national measures. I am delighted that the EU is clearly ahead thanks to its legislative package and will be able to achieve a 40% reduction in its omission, whether there is ratification before the end of the year or not". (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)