Slovenian Presidency of EU Council puts forward new draft conclusions in light of COP26

On 21 September, the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent Member States new draft conclusions in preparation for the 26^th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) due to be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November.

According to the document, while Member States have agreed on the main thrust of the Presidency’s proposed text, the issue of the timing of ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) – documents setting out the efforts to be taken by each party to the Paris Agreement in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the consequences of climate change – continues to divide EU countries. 

In an earlier version of the draft conclusions, the Presidency proposed to express the EU Council’s determination to “agree on a common time frame or time frames for all Parties’ NDCs that will be implemented from 2031 onwards”. The text then set out two options: (1) a single common five-year timeframe; (2) a single common ten-year timeframe (see EUROPE 12793/5).

While a majority of delegations are in favour of a common five-year time frame, some delegations are not able to give their support to the text on the grounds that such a timetable would not be compatible with the ‘Climate Law’, that it would increase the administrative burden and that it would introduce unpredictability for businesses, stated the new draft Slovenian conclusions.

Therefore, Ljubljana has proposed the following wording: “The Council of the European Unionexpress, to the extent it is conducive to reaching a consensus in Glasgow, its preference for a common time frame of 5 years for all Parties’ NDCs that will be implemented from 2031 onwards, and to be implemented by the EU in a manner consistent with the European Climate Law”.

The text will now be examined by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Friday 24 September, with a view to it being approved at the meeting of EU environment ministers on 6 October.

See the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/2XNvoKe (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)