With 31 states depositing their ratification instruments with the United Nations at a ceremony organised by Ban Ki-moon in New York on Wednesday 21 September - which takes the number of countries to 60, accounting for 48% of global emissions - the European Union, the only bloc of countries having to ratify as a group of 29 (the EU and its member states), has demonstrated its determination not to be outdone.
The ambassadors of the EU member states (Coreper) formulated a draft solution on Wednesday which, if approved by environment ministers in Brussels on Friday 30 September, could allow the European Union to deposit its instrument of ratification on 7 October. That, at least, is the target date, one month day for day before COP 22 opens in Marrakesh at the start of November.
There can be no question that the Paris Agreement – which will come into force when at least 55 countries producing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it – will take effect without the EU having deposited its instrument of ratification with the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On the contrary, the EU is intent on helping this historic agreement come into force – something that is now within touching distance.
The idea is that the Environment Council will, at an extraordinary meeting on Friday 30 September, try to come to agreement on the proposal on ratifying the Paris Agreement on behalf of the EU, without waiting for national ratification procedures to be completed. “No member state has declared any strong opposition to this idea”, a diplomatic source told EUROPE.
The agreement would come in a joint statement by the Council and the Commission to reassure the member states that have some concerns in view of this unprecedented procedure on a mixed agreement.
The statement will underline the importance of the role of national parliaments in the 28 member states’ ratification procedures. It will state that ratification by the EU alone, initially, addresses unique circumstances and will not, therefore, create a precedent for the ratification of future mixed agreements. It will set out explicitly that this unique procedure will not mean any change whatsoever in the way powers are shared between the EU and its member states. Lastly it will assure member states which are unable to ratify the Paris Agreement for 7 October, or even before the end of the year, that they will not be sidelined in negotiations.
The agreement, once reached in Council, will be sent to receive the assent of the European Parliament for ratification by the EU. The first October session (3-6 October) could deliver this formal assent and the ratification decision by the EU could follow on, by written procedure (since no formal meeting of the Council is scheduled).
Austria, Hungary and France have already completed their national ratification procedures. These three could deposit their instruments on 7 October. Others, such as Germany and perhaps Luxembourg, may also be ready for that date.
Some countries, like Croatia, could see their procedures delayed by general elections. Others, like Belgium, have particularly long and complex procedures involving more than one parliament. Imponderables that led EU leaders to call on the member states to ratify the Paris climate agreement "as quickly as possible" (see EUROPE 11626). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)