Although China and the US have ratified the Paris Agreement on the Climate, the European Union still has to do so. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, believes that this is quite simply unthinkable and in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 14 September he appealed for "a Europe that assumes its responsibilities".
He also used the opportunity of his state of the Union address to launch an appeal for the rapid ratification of this universal agreement by the EU and its member states, and asserted that the EU's credibility depended on this ratification. "The Paris Agreement must become a mandatory agreement as soon as possible. This agreement would not have been possible without the role played by the EU. We have encouraged all the different sides to conclude it. And where are we in all this? A small number of member states have taken provisions in this direction (Ed: France, Austria, Hungary). The Paris Agreement must be ratified", Juncker said, also warning that "the longer we wait, the greater the risk of losing a standing on the international scene".
Next step is the informal Bratislava summit. The Slovak Presidency is still seeking a solution that will facilitate EU ratification without having to wait for all the different EU 28 national ratification procedures in which it does not have a remit. The attempt to reach a decision by consensus, as had been hoped, was not forthcoming during the meeting of the EU Permanent Representatives (Coreper) on Friday 9 September (see EUROPE 11619).
On Friday 16 September, the informal European Council of Bratislava is expected to provide another occasion to discuss this matter, since the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, intends to tackle this question during the working dinner. The president of COP 21 is hoping to find out the dates of ratification during the summit (see EUROPE 11619). (Aminata Niang)