This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7768758.stm

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Sarkozy to seek EU climate deal EU seeks climate deal in Poland
(about 6 hours later)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to meet eastern European leaders to try to agree on the European Union's ambitious climate change package. France's Nicolas Sarkozy, the EU's current chairman, is to meet Eastern member states in Poland to try to agree on an ambitious climate change package.
Some countries have opposed deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions because they claim they unfairly penalise their dependence on coal for energy. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic oppose deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, saying they unfairly penalise their dependence on coal.
The cuts also do not take account of the lower levels of earnings in their countries, the leaders say. The cuts also do not take account of the lower levels of earnings in their countries, Eastern leaders argue.
The EU plan aims for better efficiency and increasing renewable energy by 20%. The EU plan would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by the year 2020.
It wants to meet its proposed targets by 2020. The French president's meeting with the leaders of nine East European countries in Gdansk takes place at the same time as UN-led climate negotiations in the Polish city of Poznan.
When Mr Sarkozy sits down with the leaders of nine east European countries in Gdansk on Saturday, some of the keenest observers will be 300km away in Poznan at the UN-led climate negotiations. Although the talks in Gdansk are not directly related to the meeting in Poznan, they are seen as crucial to maintaining the credibility of Europe's leadership on climate change, BBC environment reporter Matt McGrath reports.
Although the talks in Gdansk are not directly related to the meeting in Poznan they are seen as crucial to maintaining the credibility of Europe's leadership on climate change. A new global climate pact is to be signed in Copenhagen in a year's time, succeeding the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which runs out in 2012.
The EU has told the world that if a global deal is done, then they will cut emissions by 30%.The EU has told the world that if a global deal is done, then they will cut emissions by 30%.
But the leaders of eastern Europe, including Poland and the Czech Republic, say these targets do not take account of their dependency on coal for energy and the lower levels of earnings in their countries. 'Not enough'
Possible compromise The EU package, which is under pressure because of fears of the cost of green energy in the middle of a global economic crisis, focuses on three areas: emission cuts, renewable energy sources and energy efficiencies.
The costs of carbon trading are a particular stumbling block for the eastern counties. EU 20-20-20 TARGETS 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 202020% increase in use of renewable energy by 202020% cut in energy consumption through improved energy efficiency by 2020 class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/portal/climate_change/default.stm">In depth: Climate change class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7657414.stm">Q&A: EU green energy
They want to soften the blow to their industries and their populations by giving away permits to emit carbon. France, which hands over the rotating EU presidency to the Czech Republic in January, needs to win the Eastern states' support ahead of an EU summit on 11-12 December.
Brussels wants these permits to be auctioned off to the highest bidder saying that if you give them away for free, it would undermine Europe's emissions trading scheme. Mr Sarkozy wants the climate package completely finished before the hand-over.
There are indications that President Sarkozy will agree a compromise with the eastern European leaders, giving them more time to catch up with the rest of EU. Eastern countries are seeking to soften the blow to their industries and their populations by giving away permits to emit carbon but Brussels wants these permits to be auctioned off to the highest bidder saying that if you give them away for free, you undermine the EU's emissions trading scheme.
He wants the climate package completely finished before France hands over the presidency of the 27-nation bloc to the Czech Republic in January. Mr Sarkozy is due to meet the leaders of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic for lunch.
There are indications that he will agree to a compromise with the Eastern leaders, giving them more time to catch up with the rest of the EU, but the details have still to be hammered out.
Under one compromise being considered, West European plants would have to buy permits to emit every tonne of carbon dioxide they produce from burning fossil fuels from 2013. But the scheme would only be introduced in Eastern Europe from 2016.
Polish Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki has already rejected as insufficient the French offer of extra time to meet the new climate caps.
"This is one step in the right direction, but not enough," he told Reuters news agency on Friday.
An unnamed official in Mr Sarkozy's office stressed the importance of striking a deal on Sunday.
"If we do not manage to reach an agreement at the lunch, then the night of the 11th to the 12th [ie the EU summit] will be very long," the official told Reuters.