Strasbourg, 26/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Three weeks after the Summit on Sustainable Development came to an end, on 4 September in Johannesburg, Commissioners Margot Wallström (environment) and Poul Nielson (development), together with the Danish Foreign Minister, Bertel Haarder, presented to the European Parliament a balance sheet of what was achieved by the Summit. During the debate, the optimism of Commissioners was tempered by MEPs who expressed their disappointment. They spoke of the few objectives actually reached, the over-large place given to trade aspects, and the unsatisfactory participation of the European Parliament. MEPs, who called for the commitments taken in Johannesburg to be implemented, did, however, reach agreement on one point with Commissioners and Council: one of the great failures of the summit will be the lack of agreement on renewable energies.
Council President Bertel Haarder felt that, in Johannesburg, "for the first time in years, we did gain commitments from the rich countries". Giving a list of the summit's successes, the minister recognised, however, that "the most difficult negotiation was on energy: no timetable or targets were reached because of Canada and Japan". Regarding the need to implement the commitments taken, the minister stressed that "the private sector was asked to be more actively involved". Margot Wallström declared she was pleased with the results of the Johannesburg Summit, mainly the "EU's driving role" which allowed "many objectives to be reached". She, also, regretted the lack of any agreement on energy and pledged she would do everything she could to implement the Johannesburg results. Poul Nielson, for his part, described the negotiations in Johannesburg as difficult saying: "we had to fight to defend what had been the subject of earlier agreements". On the financial aspect, "Johannesburg reaffirmed the objectives of the Millennium and adopted new objectives", the Commissioner welcomed saying, however, that the "fund providers should be more generous". The Parliament expressed delight at the "collaboration between MEPs and the Commission during the summit". Swedish national Anneli Hulthen (PES), author of the report on the European Commission's communication relating to the implementation of the European programme on climate change, urged the Commission to act and placed emphasis on a number of weaknesses especially in the financial, agricultural, energy and transport fields. Speaking on behalf of the Parliament's Committee on Industry, Werner Langen (EPP-ED, Germany) expressed surprise at the "self-satisfaction of Commissioners" and noted that "only 10 points out of 42 in Johannesburg will be implemented next year". This opinion was shared by Portuguese MEP Jorge Moreira da Silva who, on behalf of the EPP-ED, felt that "results were reached that will not be sufficient to save the planet". She regretted that the idea of creating a World Environment Agency had not been discussed during the summit. Welcoming the relations upheld with the Danish Presidency during the summit, Mr Moreira da Silva said, unlike Commissioner Nielson, that "cooperation with the Commission was not sufficient". Speaking for the PES, German national Bernd Lange called on the EU to review its trade policy which he found "too based on short term profit". He took a stance in favour of increased Parliament involvement in negotiations of this kind, a request echoed by Marieke Sanders-Ten-Holte from the Netherlands on behalf of the Liberals. Joaquim Miranda, Portuguese Chairman of the development committee and spokesman for the NGUE/NGL group, said he felt that "in Johannesburg, there were neither the means nor the determination to reach new objectives". By way of example, he cited the creation of a solidarity fund to combat poverty but which "is not binding". Claude Turmes, for the Greens, stressed that the summit had focused on trade aspects and that "most negotiations took place behind closed doors months before the summit". A point of view echoed by Danish Ulla Margrethe Sandbaek speaking for the EDD Group.