After some 10 hours of discussions interspersed with breaks and working sessions dedicated to other subjects, the 27 Heads of State or Government of the Member States finally agreed on Friday 11 December, just before 8:30 am, to raise the European Union’s climate objective set for 2030 by aiming for a net reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of at least 55% compared to 1990 levels (the current 2030 objective is a reduction of at least 40%).
“Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change”, welcomed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Twitter at the end of a “marathon” summit which lasted almost 24 hours, as many and complex were the subjects to be discussed: 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework and Recovery Plan, Covid-19, Turkey, Brexit (see other news)... and, of course, the fight against climate change.
And the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, added, “Today’s agreement puts us on a clear path towards climate neutrality in 2050. It gives certainty to investors, to businesses, to public authorities and to citizens.”
The President will present this new goal to other world leaders on Saturday 12 December at an international summit to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Difficult discussions
Under the unanimity rule, raising the 2030 target to ‘at least 55%’, as proposed by the Commission, required the agreement of all Member States.
However, a small group of countries from Central and Eastern Europe wanted more guarantees regarding the support they will receive from the EU to carry out their ecological transition prior to joining this new common objective (see EUROPE 12620/4).
“We have to be honest. A good part of the night was spent forging the unity of the 27 Member States on the subject [of climate]”, admitted Mr Michel at the end of the summit, while acknowledging that reaching an agreement “has not been easy”.
“The discussions were challenging, because one Member State [editor’s note: Poland] was seeking to secure certainty and stability of the funding under Modernisation Fund for its energy sector”, a European diplomat explained.
However, the other Member States could not commit themselves to reflecting such security in the European Council conclusions because of many unknowns in the design of future policy, he added.
A more detailed enabling framework and a strengthened role for the European Council
However, significant changes have been made to the European Council conclusions in order to obtain the accession of the most cautious countries (see EUROPE 12619/4).
In particular, the adopted text contains more details on the ‘enabling framework’, i.e., the set of instruments, incentives, support and investments aimed at helping states in the energy transition.
Concerning the Modernisation Fund for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the conclusions now state that the “problem of imbalances for beneficiaries of the Modernisation Fund [...] will be addressed as part of the upcoming legislation”, on the grounds that the current version of the ETS does not allow the Fund’s beneficiary states to collect revenues equivalent to the costs incurred by ETS installations. This clarification was probably added to satisfy Warsaw (see EUROPE 12588/2).
“We have managed to build-in provisions that will allow us to compensate for possibly higher expenses related to the emission allowance system [and] to secure best possible conditions for a just transition of the Polish economy”, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, welcomed the announcement.
The new findings also reflect the desire of the EU27 to retain a role on the issue of the enabling framework.
According to the text, the European Council will indeed adopt “additional guidance in time before the Commission puts forward its proposals” on climate policy. And it went on to specify, “The future of the Effort Sharing Regulation [editor’s note: to be revised in June 2021 – see EUROPE 12592/17] will be tackled on this occasion”.
We can therefore expect to see the issue of climate change appear on the agenda of a European summit in the first half of 2021.
Technological neutrality
The countries most dependent on fossil fuels, in particular the Czech Republic, have also obtained the addition of a specific mention of the role of gas.
The conclusions thus mention that the European Council “acknowledges” the need to respect the right of Member States to choose “the most appropriate technologies to achieve collectively the 2030 climate target, including transitional technologies such as gas”.
Furthermore, the European Council emphasises that the 2030 target must be achieved collectively in the most cost-effective way, taking into account the Member States’ different starting positions, national circumstances and emission reduction potential, as well as efforts already made.
Finally, it should be noted that the term net emission reduction (taking into account emissions captured by carbon sinks) was chosen ultimately, whereas some countries, such as Luxembourg, Sweden and Finland, reportedly preferred a ‘gross’ reduction target. A choice that has been criticised by environmental NGOs (see other news).
‘Climate Law’
This new 2030 target will now be approved by the Environment Ministers of the Member States on 17 December, thus finalising the partial political agreement (general approach) on the ‘Climate Law’ that they reached at the end of October.
Pending the decision of the European leaders on the 2030 objective, the Ministers had in fact adopted a position on all the elements of the ‘Climate Law’, with the exception of the 2030 objective, which was left in brackets (see EUROPE 12588/1).
Negotiations with the European Parliament (‘trilogues’), which advocates a 60% reduction in emissions, started on 30 November (see EUROPE 12614/15) and will continue. The next trilogue could be held on 18 December.
See the European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/2JT7cPu (Original version in French by Damien Genicot with the editors)