Getting the EU's 27 member states to sign off on the December deadline "has not been easy, let me assure you," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a 16 October press conference at the conclusion of the summit.
France, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, was under pressure from Poland and Italy to back down from a commitment to finalise the climate and energy package before the end of the year.
But Warsaw and Rome were ultimately persuaded to sign off on conclusions that maintain the basic architecture and timeline for the adoption of the measures.
The French EU Presidency and the European Commission are now called upon to "organise intensive work over the next few weeks in order to enable the European Council in December 2008 to decide on appropriate responses to the challenge of applying that package in a rigorously established cost-effective manner to all sectors of the European economy and all member states, having regard to each member state's specific situation," according to the Council conclusions adopted on 16 October.
But the vague wording of the conclusions is widely seen as an indication that member states remain sharply divided over key issues, particularly the treatment of energy-intensive industries. Paris has put forward more specific guidelines for further work, but these were not included in the main text of the conclusions.
"It will not be a very easy task" to reconcile the imperatives of fighting climate change with concerns over Europe's industrial competitiveness, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted after the summit.
There are also concerns that agreeing the climate package at the level of the European Council, where decisions must be taken on the basis of unanimity rather than through qualified majority voting, will lead to 'horse trading' and closed-door talks between EU countries in order to bring reluctant states like Poland and Italy on board.
Take it or leave it
A unanimity vote places the Parliament in a tricky position. If MEPs vote on the package before the next EU summit, scheduled for 11-12 December, member states would need to bring their position in line with the EU's co-legislators in order to come to an agreement before the end of the year.
But if Parliament votes on the package, as is widely expected, only after member states have finalised a deal, MEPs would have little room for manoeuvre to push for changes, and would need to either reject or accept the compromise agreed between member states.
A rejection of the deal would lead to a second reading and would push back the date for adoption of the package to March 2009 or late in 2009 under the legislature of a new Parliament.
EU leaders hope to avoid such a scenario, and so-called 'tripartite' negotiations between Council, Parliament and the Commission are foreseen in the meantime so that an agreement can be found. The full Parliament is not represented in these talks, however, which are led on its behalf by the four MEP rapporteurs on the climate package - Irish Christian Democrat Avril Doyle (EU ETS), Finnish Green Satu Hassi (CO2 effort sharing), Luxembourg Green Claude Turmes (renewables) and UK Liberal Chris Davies (carbon capture and storage).
A new deal?
It remains unclear what kind of compromises will emerge in order to get some of Europe's more hesitant industries and member states to sign off on the package.
But the language of the conclusions points to a potential rethink of the rules governing Europe's industrial sectors, whereby the Commission is requested "to make appropriate proposals by the end of the year, in particular to preserve the international competitiveness of European industry".
Comments by Sarkozy indicate that Brussels could consider sweeping changes to the application of state-aid rules, in particular for Europe's carmakers (see EurActiv's related coverage).
