Luxembourg, 10/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Although no figures were given and while waiting to see if international agreement is possible on arrangements for funding measures to combat climate change in developing countries, EU finance ministers decided on the two principles to provide, they say, the basis for calculating how much industrialised countries must contribute. They did not, however, give any explicit commitment on the combined application of these same criteria to sharing the burden among EU member states, even though virtually all are happy (Poland alone has reservations).
In conclusions adopted on Tuesday 9 June, the Ecofin Council reaffirmed that “the EU stands ready to contribute its fair share of international support including through public support and offset credit linked to the EU's ambitious mitigation targets”. The text, which will be put to the European Council on 18-19 June, says that these contributions should be based on two major principles, “the ability to pay and responsibility for emissions,” and could be determined by an overall allocation formula (there being no international agreement, the EU would decide on how much it should contribute).
A draft text added that “these principles should also be the basis for contributions from individual member states”, but this was removed in the final version. Concerned at how much it may have to pay under the emissions criteria (with the weighting of the two criteria still to be decided), Poland wanted to retain greater room for manoeuvre, so that later adjustments could be made within the EU. The conclusions, then, are less forthright. They say that “this is without prejudice to the internal EU burden sharing which will be determined in good time before the Copenhagen conference” and, sticking word for word to the conclusions of the March European Council, put off, until a later date, decisions on: - the EU positions on main approaches for financing mitigation, adaptation, technology support and capacity building; - the specifics of the EU's contribution, and; - the principles of burden sharing among member states. (A.B./transl.rt)