On Friday 18 October, In exactly five minutes each, European Heads of State and Government sent a positive message to the rest of the world for the COP25 in Santiago (2-13 December), stressing the importance of raising the ambition of climate action at both the European and global levels - a necessity required by the “existential threat”.
Not a word has been changed in the draft conclusions on climate (see EUROPE 12351/5).
The debate is scheduled for December, when the European Council will finalise its guidelines on the enabling framework and incentives that will accompany the socially just and equitable transition to a climate-neutral European economy.
This is to ensure that the EU is in a position to adopt its long-term strategy and communicate it to the UNFCC in early 2020. The European Council’s conclusions confirm this commitment. To accomplish this, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic still need to be convinced to aim for climate neutrality by 2050. This date wasn’t mentioned.
The European Council expressed its determination that “the EU will continue to lead the way towards a socially equitable and just green transition in the framework of implementing the Paris Agreement”.
“We will look further into climate issues in December”, Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk did not make any comments. “The Commission must quickly make the Green Deal a reality”, said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Above all, the summit allowed the President-elect of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to stress to the leaders of the Twenty-Eight the importance of the EU as a front-runner in the transition to climate neutrality, a European Green Deal and a balance between the fight against climate change, a competitive European industry and energy supply. She also mentioned the carbon tax at the borders for a level playing field. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and editorial staff)