"We merit our leadership role" on climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists in Brussels following the conclusion of the 11-12 December EU summit.
Merkel said her country was "very successful" during the summit, and believes the outcome will send an "important signal" to Poznań, Poland, where international delegates are attending the last day of a UN climate change conference.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown made similar remarks to reporters earlier today, arguing that the "principles that underly Europe's leadership on the climate will be upheld" by the deal. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was "very satisfied", describing Italy's diplomatic moves as "a masterpiece".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency until the end of the year, hailed the "historic" nature of the agreement.
But while the 20% CO2 reduction target was not questioned by EU countries, the agreement on the package contains numerous derogations designed to reduce compliance costs and risks for the bloc's heavy industries and fossil fuel-dependent power sectors. Member states, meanwhile, should be allowed to use emissions offsets in non-EU countries to account for up to 70% of their domestic emissions obligations (see EurActiv 12/12/08 for more details on the derogations).
Exit EU, enter US?
While proponents of a more rigorous domestic EU greenhouse gas reduction regime were furious about the outcome of the summit, there are also concerns that the 'watering down' of the package will have wider international ramifications.
Commenting on the outcome of the summit, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso asked "the US to join Europe to lead the world in this planetary initiative". For nearly two years since the publication of their famous conclusions in March 2007, EU leaders and the Commission vaunted the EU's green ambitions and credentials in contrast to the lacklustre efforts of the US administration under George W. Bush.
In other developments, US President-elect Barack Obama today announced the composition of his energy team, which includes Steven Chu, a former Nobel laureate in physics active in alternative fuels research, and Carol Browner, once legislative advisor to former US Vice President and climate 'guru' Al Gore.
The move is being interpreted as a sign that the new US administration will take ambitious steps to reduce the country's carbon footprint, potentially usurping EU leadership in the field.
Merkel, who was "perplexed" by the negative press her country received in advance of the summit, sought to downplay concerns by noting that in contrast to the US, which has set itself the goal of cutting CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, the EU's goal of 20% less CO2 by the same date is much more ambitious, she said.
The co-legislator
Green MEPs in the European Parliament, which is scheduled to vote on the package in plenary on 17 December, are pushing for changes to the measures agreed by EU heads of state. "We have to kick out the German exemptions, and on effort-sharing, we may have to go for a second reading," Luxembourg Green MEP Claude Turmes told EurActiv after the summit.
There are doubts that a majority of MEPs would vote down the compromise, however, as this would considerably delay the adoption of the package.
Sarkozy, who has been credited with creating a considerable share of the momentum necessary to reach a deal on such a large package in record time, has nonetheless floated the idea of holding an extraordinary summit on 27 December should Parliament reject the deal.
