Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, met leaders from eastern EU Member States on 6 December in Poland, in an attempt to try and gain support for the faltering EU energy and climate change package. Mr Sarkozy, who has made reaching an agreement on the package the top priority of his country’s rotating EU Presidency, and his eastern European counterparts, made addressing  the topic of a proposed ‘solidarity fund’ for the poorer countries in the EU one of the central issues of the meeting.

Reaction to the outcome of the meeting has been mixed, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying ‘there is still a lot of work ahead of us’, before the EU summit next week. And the Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu warned the package could be potentially debilitating for certain Member States, saying ‘the effects of the economic crisis have been very strong on our countries which are weaker than the western states’.

However the French President was more optimistic, maintaining that ‘things are moving in a good way ... I am convinced we will arrive at a positive conclusion’. He will now visit the UK this week, to try and reach a consensus on a possible funding system for the most vulnerable EU countries.

Fears have been raised by the governments of several eastern EU Member States, that the measures proposed to move towards a low-carbon future will damage their fragile economies. Poland, for example, relies on energy from coal for 90% of its electricity, and wants an extended exemption period for its coal industry from the ETS (emission trading scheme) to help the country adapt. The compromise proposal that was reached during the meeting, calls for 10% of auctioning revenue to be redistributed to help the poorer countries adapt to cleaner technology.

Negotiations will be ongoing in the days leading up to the EU summit, with the outcome still very much undecided. Mr Sarkozy’s visit may very well end up being a crucial trip in the context of reaching a deal however, with Mr Tusk saying that ‘at the very end, maybe at the very last minute, we may decide this is a solution we may accept’.

< Prev		Next >