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Tough climate talks at EU summit EU 'poised for new emission cuts'
(about 6 hours later)
European Union leaders have begun a summit with calls for action on climate change tempered by concern for industry amid worsening economic conditions. EU leaders meeting for their spring summit in Brussels are poised to back new curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, Slovenian PM Janez Jansa says.
The two-day EU summit is focused on how to implement a 20% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. Mr Jansa, whose country currently chairs the EU, likened plans to move to a low carbon economy to a "third industrial revolution".
"One year ago we adopted it... now we have to translate this commitment into concrete legislation," said European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso. He predicted EU leaders would back European Commission targets to cut CO2 emissions by 20%, by 2020.
Also on the agenda are transparency in banking and a Mediterranean union plan. But a UK proposal to cut sales tax on "green" goods is unlikely to succeed.
Among the most controversial topics are ways of cutting emissions from energy-intensive industries such as steel, cement and aluminium, as well as from cars - discussed amid concerns over high oil prices and turmoil on global financial markets. The summit also "took note" of a report by the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, warning of potential security concerns arising from global warming.
Mr Barroso said the EU wanted to "definitely avoid" driving such industries out of Europe because of tough environmental requirements. The report says climate change will have a growing impact on global security, multiplying existing threats such as shortages of food and water.
Jobs fears It warns that climate change could cause millions of people to migrate towards Europe as other parts of the world suffer environmental degradation.
Correspondents say leaders from the 27 member states are expected to agree that richer EU nations should take on heavier carbon emissions cuts than poor ones, because of fears of the impact on weaker economies. Mr Solana's report "enjoyed a lot of support", Mr Jansa told reporters.
The EU leads a self-proclaimed crusade on climate changeBut some rich countries also fear taking an economic hit. 'Some doubts'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would "make a point of sticking up for jobs in the car industry in Germany". The idea put forward by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown would cover such products as low-energy light bulbs.
"It cannot be that nations that make big cars are punished more than countries that make small cars," she said. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said some countries did not agree with the idea which he described as "a very sensitive issue".
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is calling at the summit for an EU-wide reduction of sales taxes on "green" products such as loft-insulation and low-energy light bulbs, televisions and household appliances. He said the question was whether or not lowering VAT was the best solution for promoting environmentally friendly goods.
A report from the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana says climate change is already having a detrimental effect on the conflict in Darfur, migration from flood-prone Bangladesh and hopes for stability in the Middle East. "We have some doubts," he added.
Gloomy outlook Mr Barroso went on to say that he did not want to dismiss the importance of positive discrimination for such products, but alternatives such as rebates might be more suitable.
The EU is seeking to lead global efforts to cut the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as world leaders gear up for talks in 2009 on an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. "We have to see how it can work, if it can work," he said.
The BBC's Alex Kroeger in Brussels says it will be much harder for the EU to call on other nations to cut their emissions if it has not got its own house in order by then. Energy control
Although the leaders agree on their aims, it was one thing to commit to them a year - when economic conditions were good - but will be another to implement them amid fears of a global economic downturn, our correspondent says. An important barometer for the success of the spring summit is how far the leaders are prepared to go in accepting the targets laid out for them by the commission on cutting CO2.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said the proposed 20% reduction was "way short of the mark". But, beyond that, the commission is also asking member states to push forward the liberalisation of the energy market.
"We are heading for a climate crisis unless EU leaders pull their socks up" said the group's Mahi Sideridou, calling for a 30% target. Germany and France lead a group of countries hostile to calls for the break-up of big energy companies which run both power stations and the distribution networks.
Mr Barroso said there was a general understanding that an internal European energy market was linked to having a secure supply and promoting renewable energy.
But he did not say whether Germany and France had made any concessions.
Another of the key issues raised at the summit was reaction to the turmoil in the financial markets.
There was no indication that any concrete measures would be taken to tackle volatility when the summit comes to end on Friday.
Mr Barroso said it was clear that people felt it was yet "another reason not to allow complacency, but on the contrary to pursue the modernisation of the European economy".
'Club Med''Club Med'
Also up for discussion was a plan, proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to create a forum to link European nations more closely with North African and Middle Eastern countries around the Mediterranean Sea. French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the talks having secured support from Germany for a watered-down proposal for a Mediterranean Union.
But some other member states are concerned that the EU will have to foot the bill for the project without seeing great gains from it. His aim is to forge closer ties between European countries with a Mediterranean coast and those beyond Europe, including Israel and Arab states such as Algeria and Tunisia.
With concerns over the global economy also high on the agenda, Mr Barroso also urged leaders to "avoid the temptation of becoming protectionist". The main objective to what some have dubbed "Club Med" was the cost, but there have also been complaints that a Euro-Mediterranean partnership already exists.
The member states are expected to push for banks to be more open about their losses, in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US. The compromise appears to be an "upgrade" on what already exists and hopes for its success have been carefully lowered.
In the words of Janez Jansa: "The objective is not solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Another potential source of diplomatic tension for EU leaders is a film about Islam being made by Dutch right-wing MP Geert Wilders.
Even before the film is released on the internet, there have been protests in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, raising fears that it could revive anger last seen in the Islamic world after the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Denmark.
When asked whether the subject had been discussed, Mr Barroso said merely that Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende "had informed us about that issue".