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Climate, economy to dominate EU's "most crucial" summit

Other News Materials 11 December 2008 14:04 (UTC +04:00)

The fight against climate change and European efforts to stave off a massive recession were set to top the agenda on Thursday as European Union leaders gathered in Brussels for what has been billed as the most crucial summit in years, reported dpa.

"This will be perhaps the most crucial European (summit) in recent years ... a real test for Europe," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the meeting.

The hottest question is a set of legal proposals from the commission - the EU's executive - setting out how the bloc should cut its emissions of greenhouse gases to 20 per cent below 1990 levels, in line with a pledge made by EU leaders in March 2007.

While EU leaders are all but unanimous in their support for the overall target, diplomatic wrangling has reached a level of intensity not seen in years as they grapple over the question of who should pay for the project and how each state should protect its industries.

The pressure to reach an agreement is intense. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is set to chair the talks as current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, has made the package the top priority of his six-month stint at the EU's helm.

Moreover, leaders are eager to reach a deal this week so that the European Parliament - which has the final say on the package - can approve it at its next plenary session on Wednesday.

And EU member states and the parliament all say that the bloc must bring the laws into force before an international conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009, so that the EU can maintain the highest possible moral ground in the global talks.

Given the scale and sheer cost of the proposals - estimated at some 70 billion euros (90 billion dollars) per year - diplomats warn that the talks are likely to be long and bitter.

The heads of state and government of the EU's 27 member states are also set for clashes over proposals by the commission to keep the EU out of recession by pumping some 1.5 per cent of total economic output - around 200 billion euros - into the economy.

Ahead of the summit, diplomats said that the toughest debate was set to be over a proposal to channel 5 billion euros of unspent EU funds into high-tech projects such as high-speed internet links and electricity and gas connections between member states.

Germany and Italy say that that would effectively transfer EU money to a small number of poor members, and that the funds should instead be returned to national budgets.

Leaders are also set to debate the exact size of the financial package, and the question of whether it should include an offer to let member states reduce their VAT levels.

They are also expected to give a first indication of how the bloc might solve the problem of bringing the new set of rules known as the Lisbon Treaty into force, after Irish voters rejected it in June.

Finally, they are expected to discuss plans for boosting the EU's defence capability and its cooperation with NATO, and to give their formal blessing to a plan for forging closer ties with former-Soviet neighbours such as Ukraine and Georgia.

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