Brussels, 14/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - The wrangling is over. On Friday 14 March in Brussels, the EU27 heads of state and government expressed their resolve for the climate/energy legislative package presented by the Commission on 23 January to be adopted by spring 2009 at the very latest. This will allow the EU to remain at the forefront of the fight against climate change and will promote, within the United Nations (UN) framework, an overall agreement in Copenhagen in 2009 on a global regime for the post-2012 period. The timetable and the general principles guiding the EU in this perilous venture (overall balance of legislation, transparency, economic efficiency and cost efficiency, equity and solidarity in effort to be made, account taken of the departure point, specific potential and results in different member states, and respect of sustainable economic growth) were set out in the conclusions of the European Council along the lines taken by the Environment Council (EUROPE 9614).
The most notable move forward lies in the unanimous acknowledgement of the need to resolve, as a matter of urgency and in the context of the revised directive on greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (ETS) applicable in 2013, the problem caused by the risks of relocation and carbon leaks from European energy-guzzling companies exposed to international competition, should the international community fail to reach an agreement in 2009. It is on this point that the discussions were the most intense. The seven countries most concerned (Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Finland, Hungary and the Czech Republic) did not agree between them on the most suitable solution between the three set out by the Commission (free quota allocation, international sectoral agreements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, integration of third country imports into the ETS). Janez Jansa, President of the European Council, acknowledged this before the press but, when the summit opened, he had warned that there would be “no answer during the European summit” as to the fate reserved to high energy consuming industries. “There must be deeper study on this and one must not lose sight of the fact that, when it comes to climate, the EU is the leader at world level and that the conclusions will have an impact on our partners during the post-Kyoto period”.
After the summit, the present of the European Council took the view that the conclusions on the climate/energy package were a “key document” for the new cycle of the Lisbon Strategy, in terms of opportunities for taking action and in terms of modernising the economy. He said that, since January, “we have been hard at it. Today, we have undertaken to conclude this work by end 2008. Cooperation from all institutions is absolutely essential”, he said, reassured by the “promise of Hans-Gert Pöttering, Parliament President, to help us for all issues where codecision is required”. “The conception of the package is good (…). We recalled the importance of having a transparent debate on the aims of emissions reduction and we are regilding our position within the international community”, the president said. Speaking of “sectoral problems encountered by a number of sectors more exposed to international competition because of the EU's ambitious commitments”, he added, “the industries that consume the most energy expect us to work as fast as possible in the best environment possible. We shall take an interest in what happens to them”.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso welcomed the fact that “in the climate of uncertainty facing our economies”, the European Council has not reviewed its ambitions downward. Regarding the fate of the high energy-consuming industries, he welcomed the wording found. “We say that an international agreement remains the best instrument, but if no such agreement is found, we are ready to roll up our sleeves”. In its conclusions, the European Council said it “recognises that in a global context of competitive markets, the risk of carbon leakage is a concern in certain sectors such as energy intensive industries particularly exposed to international competition that needs to be analysed and addressed urgently in the new ETS Directive so that if international negotiations fail, appropriate measures can be taken”.
On the basis of the Bali roadmap, the European Union is firmly determined to keep up the impetus of climate negotiations conducted under the aegis of the UN, mainly during the next conference of parties to the framework convention on climate change in Poznan (Poland, early December). The “objective is to secure an ambitious, global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009. (…) By delivering on all the targets set by the 2007 Spring European Council, the EU will make a major contribution to this objective”, the Council's conclusions state. “A key challenge will be to ensure that this transition to a safe and sustainable low-carbon economy is handled in a way that is consistent with EU sustainable development, competitiveness, security of supply, food security, sound and sustainable public finance”.
The European Council believes that the revised ETS, setting a single European ceiling, is a key element of an integrated climate change/energy policy, ensuring a good cost/effectiveness ratio and allowing the Community system to be linked to other similar systems, and the granting of emissions credits against investment from own resources in third countries which have concluded an international agreement.
With regard to national emissions reduction ceilings in sectors not included in the ETS, the Council stresses the need to show flexibility.
The paragraph devoted to the regulatory framework on environmentally friendly carbon capture and storage, no longer speaks of geological storage, but simply storage so as not to exclude the possibility of chemical storage.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said “It is essential that we achieve our ambition of a global and comprehensive agreement for post-2012. We also need to understand the consequences for EU foreign and security interests”. He welcomed the fact that Europe held firm on the principle that the EU will take a lead on the issue of energy-intensive industries. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that “the best answer to carbon leakage is to make the deal global”.
Angela Merkel said there is no doubt that EU targets are reasonable and that a way will be found to achieve them “in a sustainable way”. The German Chancellor added that she was sure that an agreement on the protection to be given to energy-guzzling industries could be found at the European Summit in June. Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski highlighted that this country, like other new member states, had, with the support of Germany and Austria, stressed that attention had to be paid to social cohesion when the ETS is introduced, so that the process which is “very necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not applied in such a way that it is detrimental to the least economically developed countries”.
Speaking before the conclusions were adopted, French President Nicolas Sarkozy felt that the “Commission proposal is good”. Conceding that “it is difficult to find the right balance”, he added, “may main concern is the setting up of a mechanism that would make it possible to penalise imports from countries that refuse to play the game”. Sarkozy, however, hopes that there will be agreement under French Presidency. (A.N./A.By./C.D.)