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Climate set to dominate EU summit | Climate set to dominate EU summit |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Climate change, energy security and reform are set to dominate the European Union's summit in Brussels. | |
The EU seeks to lead global efforts to cut the production of greenhouse gases and has pledged serious reductions. | The EU seeks to lead global efforts to cut the production of greenhouse gases and has pledged serious reductions. |
On hand to stiffen the 27 leaders' resolve will be a report from the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. | On hand to stiffen the 27 leaders' resolve will be a report from the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. |
The report maps out the impact of rising temperatures and predicts mass migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe from the year 2020. | The report maps out the impact of rising temperatures and predicts mass migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe from the year 2020. |
The two-day summit will try to work out how to implement a 20% reduction in CO2 by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. | |
That target was set last year, and now many EU leaders warn that time is of the essence if the bloc wants to take a lead in international negotiations. | |
"The momentum cannot be allowed to slip. The timing of an agreement is critical to its success," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on the eve of the summit. | |
In Brussels, British and French leaders are expected to call for changes to the tax regime to allow countries to reduce taxes on so-called green goods. | |
But differences reportedly remain among member states over how to reform the EU's energy sector, particularly how to handle the needs of energy-intensive industries and whether to break up big power companies. | |
The summit will also be looking at the issue of security of energy supplies and discuss the upheavals in world financial markets. | |
But hard decisions on climate change and energy will have to wait for another summit later in the year, the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Brussels says. |