On Thursday 20 June, the Heads of State or Government of the Twenty-Eight failed, as they had in March, to include in their conclusions the date of 2050 as the deadline for achieving climate neutrality in the EU. Despite 3 hours of discussions, four countries – Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia – opposed it. The opposite result would have been something of a miracle (see EUROPE 12278/3).
These coal-dependent Member States felt, despite attempts by European Council President Donald Tusk and the other 24 leaders to accommodate them, that they did had not received enough assurances about the assistance they would receive to commit themselves. This view takes into account the cost of the required transformation of their economy, the possible impact on their competitiveness and the social consequences of such a transformation.
The agreement in principle of the most ambitious countries on the need for the EU to provide financial support, in particular for the costly energy transition faced by some of the EU's less wealthy countries, was not enough to reassure them. Uncertainties about the outcome of the negotiations on the EU 2020-2027 budget played a major role.
Even if 2050 had been mentioned, the compromise text initially envisaged would not have constituted a firm commitment by the EU to achieve climate neutrality by that date, since it was only a question of determining how to engage in the transition while respecting national particularities and energy mixes.
“It was not possible to achieve unanimity today. No country has ruled out a positive decision in the coming months”, Donald Tusk told reporters. In the opinion of the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, this failure “is not terrible if we want to reach an ambitious agreement”.
From the outset, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had demanded concrete details on the compensation mechanisms that his country could rely on. “Polish concerns are legitimate, but rather than compensation we should talk about supporting companies, households, and regions”, commented a source from the Elysée.
A note in the conclusions of the European Council states that “for a large majority of Member States, climate neutrality must be achieved by 2050”.
The same French source considered the result “positive” because 24 countries now support the objective that “France, with its partners, will continue” to advocate at the UN Climate Summit on 23 September in New York and the G20 in Osaka (28-29 June).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel even mentioned “a very good starting position, despite all our differences, for presenting a remarkable EU position” in New York, when all NGOs were outraged by this result.
In its conclusions, the European Council invites the EU Council and the Commission to move forward on the conditions, incentives and framework for ensuring a transition to a climate-neutral EU in accordance with the Paris Agreement, a transition that will, by building on the measures already adopted to achieve the 2030 reduction target, preserve European competitiveness, be fair and socially balanced, take into account Member States' national circumstances and respect their right to decide on their own energy mix.
The Paris Agreement only provides that the balance between anthropogenic emissions and their absorption by carbon sinks is to be achieved in the second half of the century.
The European Council will finalise its guidelines for the EU’s long-term climate strategy, probably in December.
See the conclusions of the European Council: http://bit.ly/2WUW8C2 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and editorial staff)