Climate: EU proposals at the Cancun ConferenceConnie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner responsible for action on climate change, could not have been more explicit: “The EU is ready to agree on an ambitious global climate framework in Cancun but regrettably some other major economies are not”. The Commissioner forms part of the delegation that is representing the Twenty-Seven at the UN climate change conference in Mexico (Cancun, 29 November – 10 December). The failure of last year’s conference in Copenhagen is still causing dismay, while the grievous environmental repercussions of climate change on the life of citizens, nature and the economy are increasingly making themselves felt as a real emergency. Nonetheless, added Hedegaard, “Cancun can take the world a significant step forward by agreeing on a balanced set of decisions covering many key issues. It is crucial that Cancun delivers this progress, otherwise the UN climate change process risks losing momentum and relevance”. The same position is shared by Joke Schauvliege, Flemish Minister for the Environment, who will represent the Belgian EU Presidency in Cancun: “Global action is becoming ever more urgent if we are to have a chance of holding global warning below 2°C and preventing the worst impacts of climate change”. In his view “the package of decisions that Europe hopes to see agreed in Cancun must build on the Kyoto Protocol and incorporate the political guidance given in the Copenhagen Accord”. The EU delegation arrived in the Mexican city with some priority issues which it believes are crucial for the final agreement, including: commitments in terms of emissions (already contained in the Copenhagen Accord); reform and expansion of carbon market mechanisms; forest management regime for developing countries; adaptation to climate change; governance of the future Green Climate Fund; technological cooperation; and emissions from international aviation and maritime transport.Budget/1: position of the European ParliamentThe plenary session of the European Parliament, held in Strasbourg from 22 to 25 November, has tackled the problem of the EU budget for 2011, which became deadlocked after the failure of negotiations with the EU Council. MEPs then adopted a new resolution, in which they declare themselves willing “to do their utmost to reach an agreement on the budget and on the elements correlated with it in a very short time frame”, on condition that the member governments accept the proposals made by the Parliament itself. The agreement is needed to avoid the provisional financial year (so-called “provisional twelfth” system) being adopted from 1st January. The EP’s priority concerns are essentially three. First, MEPs insist that “an accord be reached on budget flexibility mechanisms, to permit in future EU financing adjusted to the new policies and strategy of Europe 2020”. Second, MEPs ask the Commission “to present its proposals on new resources” for the European Union (budget financing) and the Council for “a commitment to discuss these proposals with the Parliament in the framework of the negotiating process for the next plurennial financial framework”. Third, MEPs press for an agreement “between the three institutions on a future working method that provides for the participation of the Parliament in the negotiating process for the next plurennial framework”.Budget/2: the Commission’s new figuresPrompted also by the resolution of the European Parliament, the EU Commission issued a new draft budget on 26 November, with the aim of unblocking the negotiations and reaching an agreement between the two EU authorities with budgetary authority: the Parliament and Council. The new draft budget for EU accounts for 2011 provides for 126.5 billion euro in payments (+2.9% over 2010), as already accepted by MEPs and by representatives of the governments of member states. Commission President José Manuel Barroso invites the Parliament and Council to work together on the next plurennial financial framework and announces that he intends to present proposals on the EU’s own resources by June 2011. “It is of fundamental importance to reach an agreement by 31 December”, said the Commissioner for Budget Janusz Lewandowski. “Apart from the fact that new economic powers are emerging in various parts of the world, we must demonstrate to the markets that Europe is making an effort to overcome the current crisis instead of becoming gridlocked in debates of an internal nature”. “Contrary to what one hears being said, the EU budget is not for Brussels”, but “for citizens”; it “serves to revive growth; its intended beneficiaries are cities, regions, scientists, farmers and students; it contributes to the protection of the environment; it helps to make transport safer and enables Europe to act in unison on the world stage”.
