Climate set to dominate EU summit
March 13, 2008
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.
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 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.
Print this page