The "fault line" of the EU's climate agenda is being drawn along its eastern borders, testing the ability of the enlarged union to realise its ambition of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, Michael Zammit Cutajar, former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said in Brussels on 19 November.
Poland and seven other new member states, along with Italy, have attracted considerable media attention over their outspoken opposition to the architecture of the bloc's climate and energy package on the grounds that it will cost their industry and economies too dearly.
The Commission is hoping EU states can agree a deal before the end of the year to avoid embarrassment at international level. The EU's credibility at UN talks would "go out the window" if governments failed to reach a deal, Zammit said.
But considerable opposition remains, and there are concerns that a December deal on the package will not be possible (EurActiv 19/11/08).
Civil society groups in the new member states, meanwhile, are trying to change the perception that their countries are blocking a greener future for Europe's citizens, and are pressuring their governments to agree to the plans, tabled by Brussels in January.
"The EU has a historic responsibility to play a leading role in the fight against climate change globally. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries must decide if they want to belong to the group of leaders or those lagging behind," say a group of NGOs from the ten new EU member states in a 24 November open letter to their governments.
Despite NGOs' efforts, the public in many CEE countries is either poorly informed about climate change or sceptical that mitigation efforts will be beneficial to their economies.
Some of the countries' political elites, including Czech President Vaclav Klaus, have made the headlines for questioning the man-made nature of climate change. Klaus's scepticism has raised concerns that the incoming Czech EU Presidency, which takes over from France in January 2009, will be less energetic and active in pushing for a deal on the climate and energy package should member states fail to broker a deal before the end of the year.
