Generosity wanted at EU's end-of-era summit
ANDREW RETTMAN
10.12.2009 @ 09:26 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU is looking to pledge billions of euros to help poorer countries cope with global warming at a summit on Thursday (10 December), which also marks the end of an era for the bloc's top institution.
European leaders will at a dinner in Brussels decide how much to put into an international pot to help the developing world adapt to climate change between 2010 and 2012.
Mr Reinfeldt at last month's summit with a Rubik's Cube, representing the EU puzzle of choosing its first permanent president (Photo: gunnar Seijbold/Regeringskansliet )
The Swedish EU presidency on the eve of the summit promised €765 million from its own treasury in a bid to stimulate generosity.
The Swedish offer builds on an earlier UK pledge of €880 million. The UK and Denmark have called for the union to put forward €7 billion in total.
Germany is unwilling to make a large contribution, however. And Poland is still fighting for the right to use virtual money, in the form of unsold carbon credits, for its share of climate financing in general.
The 2010 to 2012 pot is just a stop-gap measure before wealthy countries create a larger fund to help developing states make their economies more environmentally friendly.
The summit - taking place shortly before the climax of world climate talks in Copenhagen - is unlikely to see the EU go any further on its commitment to cut greenhouse gasses by 20 percent by 2020.
Swedish premier Fredrik Reinfeldt in a statement on Wednesday explained that other rich countries, such as the US, have done too little to justify a shift. "We still want further targets from the developed world. In that case we will be able to move," he said.
Meanwhile, the summit will be the last in EU history to be chaired by one of the member states.
Former Belgian leader Herman Van Rompuy was named as the EU's first permanent president on 1 December in line with the Lisbon Treaty and will take charge of events from January onward.
Mr Van Rompuy will at Thursday's dinner explain how he aims to conduct future summits, covering issues such as whether foreign ministers or finance ministers will be invited if the agenda merits their input.
"It's one thing to have adopted new rules of procedure. But it's another thing how he actually plans to chair the meetings, how he plans to organise his job with the European Commission and with Ashton," an EU official said, referring to the union's new foreign relations chief.
Mr Van Rompuy, a Christian Democrat, will also set out his stall at a meeting of centre-right European leaders in Bonn earlier the same day.
Turning a corner
The rest of the summit will be dominated by internal financial matters.
The EU is to announce that its worst recession since the 1930s is coming to an end and that member states should from 2011 consider rolling back their fiscal stimulus packages.
"Forecasts suggest a weak recovery in 2010, followed by a return to stronger growth in 2011. But uncertainties and fragilities remain, while the employment and social situation is expected to deteriorate further in 2010," the summit's draft communique says.
The fragilities were highlighted on Wednesday by fears that Greece could default on its sovereign debt, damaging confidence in the euro.
EU leaders aim to rubber stamp plans for three new financial regulatory agencies to start work in 2010 to help prevent future crises. They also plan to sketch out new growth measures to replace the defunct "Lisbon Strategy."
The new 10-year growth plan is to focus on investment in research and education, "unlocking the potential" of women and migrants and meeting climbing social welfare costs.
