EU to play for time on climate goals, documents show

Jun 9, 2010, 17:00 GMT

Brussels - The European Union is set to play for time on a controversial promise to deepen its reductions of greenhouse-gas emissions, putting off any debate until at least October by calling for more studies, internal papers show.

In 2007 the bloc agreed to cut emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 and to deepen the cut to 30 per cent if other major economies did the same. EU environment ministers had been set to debate the issue Friday, with an EU summit to examine it on June 17.

But the summit is only set to 'invite the (European) Commission (the EU's executive) to undertake further analyses and (member states) to examine further the issues raised,' a draft summit statement seen by the German Press Agency dpa reads.

On May 26, the commission published a report saying that it would cost only marginally more to cut emissions by 30 per cent than by the 20 per cent already agreed.

However, the text also acknowledged that conditions for a 30-per-cent move 'are clearly not met,' in a last-minute addition apparently demanded by France and Germany.

Environment ministers are due to agree that the document's conclusions 'need to be discussed in depth' and that they will come back to the issue 'no later than' October, according to a separate draft statement.

EU states are deeply at odds over the issue. Britain and Sweden are leading a push to move to the 30-per-cent goal, while France, Germany, Italy and Poland all oppose the move.

Diplomats said that officials in Brussels had decided to put off the debate until the end of the summer, in the hope of preventing a major public clash this month.