The German Presidency of the Council of the European Union has expressed its determination to reach an agreement among Member States to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030, as recently proposed by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12561/5) on Thursday 1 October following an informal meeting of the 27 Environment Ministers of the EU Member States.
“My goal is very clear: I want us to adopt the European Commission’s proposal to lower greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990”, said German Environment Minister and chair of the meeting, Svenja Schulze, at the closing press conference.
Acknowledging that some Member States had expressed concerns about the implementation of such an objective and its socio-economic impacts, Ms Schulze felt that it was now up to her to bring the EU countries together around an agreement by drawing up a proposal on which everyone could agree.
She then punted when a journalist asked her about the number of countries supporting the Commission's proposal.
“These 2 days were more about to describe what are the different challenges in the countries [...] and what we have to do because there are different starting points in the Member States”, she replied, while stressing that these differences represent the “greater obstacle”. She also welcomes the impact assessment of a 55% reduction by 2030 recently published by the Commission (see EUROPE 12562/1).
According to information gathered by EUROPE, there is currently a qualified majority in the EU Council in favour of the Commission’s proposal.
In addition to Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Germany (see EUROPE 12440/1), Greece also reportedly supports this new objective.
On the other hand, several Central European Member States, led by Poland and the Czech Republic, had strongly criticised the institution’s proposal (see EUROPE 12567/24, 12563/18).
Regarding the timetable, Ms Schulze reiterated her willingness to reach an agreement before the end of the year, while expressing optimism. However, she was unable to say whether it would be in October or December, not knowing in particular whether the European Heads of State or Government would wish to have the last word on the matter.
The meeting was also an opportunity for ministers to discuss how to raise the EU’s ambition for biodiversity (see other news). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)