While the Danish Presidency wishes to reach a political agreement (‘general approach’) on the 2040 climate target on 18 September at an extraordinary ‘Environment’ Council, Member States’ permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) voiced their concerns about the timetable and certain elements of the proposal, on Wednesday 16 July (see EUROPE 13672/2).
Although the Presidency had planned two hours of discussions at this first meeting in Coreper in order to obtain political guidance from the Member States, the representatives ended up exchanging views for more than three and a half hours.
According to our information, several countries have indicated that minor adjustments would not be sufficient. In particular, they are asking for greater clarity on the flexibilities granted by the Commission to achieve the 90% emissions reduction target by 2040 - such as the inclusion of international carbon credits - as well as clarification on how to ensure the EU’s competitiveness.
For some, the forthcoming announcements in the State of the Union address, in early September, could seal the fate of the 2040 target. These will have to be deemed satisfactory in order to address a number of concerns, such as the protection of energy-intensive energies and trade distortions with China and the United States.
Pressure ahead of COP30. The EU’s 2040 emissions reduction target will be used to calculate the EU’s indicative 2035 target, expected before the COP30 summit in Belém (Brazil) in November.
The Commission has not made things easy for the co-legislators, since it repeatedly postponed its proposed amendment to the ‘Climate Law’ (incorporating the intermediate target for 2040), and only presented it on 2 July this year (see EUROPE 13672/1).
During the summer break in August, there will be no meetings in Coreper or at a technical level, which means that national experts will have just three weeks to make progress on the file before mid-September.
Accelerated timetable in Parliament. In the European Parliament, the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left coordinators of the Committee on Environment (ENVI) are also hoping to reach a rapid agreement within the Parliament, despite the rejection of the urgent procedure at the plenary session in Strasbourg on 9 July (see EUROPE 13677/3).
On Tuesday 15 July, the coordinators therefore agreed on an accelerated timetable, with a plenary vote scheduled for early October, in the hope of reaching a European Parliament/EU Council agreement before the start of the COP. This would therefore enable the European Parliament to not leave it completely up to Member States to set the 2035 target. The deadline for tabling amendments is 8 September, with a vote in committee on 23 September.
It was also decided that if the lead rapporteur from the far-right Patriots for Europe group caused the file to be delayed, it would be possible this time to obtain the support of the EPP to adopt the urgent procedure at the September plenary session.
“Thanks to our pressure, the PfE rapporteur has already been partially disempowered. Now, the pro-European groups must stick together”, said the co-rapporteur for the Greens/EFA, Lena Schilling (Austrian). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)