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The EU budget was marked, the Hungarian and Polish veto off the table, the rule of law mechanism was a foregone conclusion: that’s where climate protection became a reality. Throughout the night, the EU heads of state and government at their summit in Brussels mainly negotiated a question: Should the EU commit to reducing greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030, that is, in the next ten years? The previous reduction target was 40 percent compared to 1990 levels.
Only after 8 am, the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, could announce a deal on Friday. Anything else would have been a disgrace. After all, on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement (see report to the right), the European Union wants to show that it is a global pioneer in climate protection and that it presents new, more ambitious reduction targets in accordance with the guidelines. agreed at that time.
“The Green Deal is a central project,” emphasized German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) a little later, when the other topics of the summit (increased cooperation against terrorism, new sanctions against Turkey and the situation of the crown) were treaties. “It was worth not sleeping one night,” he said.
Poland lay back for a long time
Poland in particular, whose energy needs come from 80 percent of coal, had been at odds for a long time. In the end, the national-conservative Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was persuaded with the promise that his country would receive more funds to say goodbye to the climate killer coal. Poland receives more than 50 billion euros for a “just and adequate transformation” of the energy sector and the economy.
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki Image: APA / AFP
Another concession, especially to the eastern states of the EU, can be found in the conclusions of the summit. There, natural gas is explicitly mentioned as a transition technology to the carbon-free economy. France, in particular, wants nuclear power to be recognized as a bridging technology. But that is not mentioned in the document: a concession to nuclear opponents like Austria, Luxembourg or Germany.
Dispute over nuclear technology
However, it is expressly left to the EU states to choose the “right technologies” to achieve the common climate goal. So if you want to use emission-free but expensive nuclear power, you can. For the EU, the 55 percent reduction is a step on the road to climate neutrality by 2050, that is, avoiding or storing all greenhouse gases. What will be needed in the coming years, among other things, is a rapid move away from coal, oil and gas, a rapid switch to green electricity and zero-exhaust vehicles, and the renovation of millions of homes. Advocates also see the billions invested as an opportunity for new jobs and prosperity.
Climate protection organizations like Greenpeace criticize the fact that the CO2 target of minus 55 percent can only be achieved through calculation. It would also include greenhouse gases that are stored in forests or wastelands. This will lower the EU’s real savings target to 50.5 percent. However, to stop global warming, less than 65 percent is required. The environmental protection organization WWF Austria evaluated the agreement as a “discouraged compromise at the expense of the future”. “Global 2000” considers that a reduction of at least 65 percent is “feasible and necessary”.
Industry, in turn, demanded that energy-intensive sectors be protected. Austria’s Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP) wants that too.
The conclusion was that Brussels was very satisfied with the outcome of the summit. Merkel reaped at the final press conference
Ferenz almost exuberant thanks. The German Council Presidency, which expired at the end of the year, not only kicked off the € 1.8 trillion budget package including crown aid and the rule of law clause, but also an extremely controversial agricultural reform and a long-awaited reform of the euro rescue package.
Next week, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants to try to get his EU colleagues to agree to a common asylum policy. This very delicate chapter is likely to be inherited by Portugal, which will assume the EU presidency in January.
High praise for Ursula von der Leyen
What else is left to do? Above all, fighting the pandemic. The fact that the EU states can start vaccinating at the beginning of the year is due to the clever purchasing policy of the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, it was said in unison, and expressly also of Sebastian Kurz. Responding to a request made by the President of the Commission, Merkel said: “I am convinced that we should work on a European health union.”
Turkey sanctions
Turkey has gotten rid of harsh EU sanctions for now. Despite the ongoing standoff, the European Union heads of state and government only paved the way for further punitive measures against individuals and businesses at their summit in Brussels. You should know other parties involved in the controversial Turkish search for natural gas off Cyprus. These include entry bans for EU member states and asset freezes.
Erdogan satisfied: no far-reaching measures were decided, such as sanctions against entire branches of the economy or an EU arms embargo. Adequate demands from countries like Greece, Austria or France did not find the necessary unanimous support among the 27. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called this a success. “The summit did not provide the expected response to the expectations of some countries,” he said. “Because their demands were not justified.”
