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President Barroso has written to EU
Heads of State and Government informing them of the next steps
in the Commission's work on climate action.
President Barroso underlined that the international process
needs to continue, building on what could be agreed in Copenhagen
and finding new ways to instil trust back into the process.
He states that an important element in the strategy is the
implementation of the fast-start financing for developing
countries agreed in December.
In his letter, President Barroso
states that the core goal must be to bring all partners closer
to the EU's ambitions and commitment to a multilateral agreement.
He has, therefore, asked Commissioner Hedegaard to undertake
a consultation of key international partners to find new ways
to reinvigorate the international process.
President Barroso will feed this
first assessment into the Spring European Council and then,
in full, into the Ministerial level negotiations and the June
European Council.
President
Barroso will discuss with President of the European Council,
Herman Van Rompuy, on how best
to prepare
the discussions in the European Council and how to
ensure a powerful and unified EU voice
on these critical issues for the future.
The full text of the President
Barroso's letter -
'Working together to maintain our ambitions on climate
change will remain one of our most important challenges for
this year. Since we did not have time to discuss this at our
meeting last week, I would like to share some thoughts on
the work going on in the Commission, as I believe we should
prepare well the important decisions ahead of us.
'In fact, if the European
Union does not take the initiative, we may end up driven by
the initiatives of others.
'Most of us were in Copenhagen
and I think none of us were satisfied with the outcome. However,
Copenhagen was a reality check. We had hoped that leading
by example - and our commitment to step up our efforts to
30% - would be enough to bring others on board. This did not
happen. But this is not the time for the EU to start doubting
its commitments - this would be a mistake.
'We need to show that we have
not given up on our ambitions, even if many of our partners
found it easier to limit themselves to the lowest common denominator.
We should, rather, show our commitment to press ahead with
delivery - implementing our climate and energy package showing
how tackling climate change is a dynamic element in a strategy
for growth by creating jobs and boosting energy security under
the Europe 2020 approach that I presented and we discussed
last week.
'Besides the internal dimension
of our work, the international front is as important as ever
to tackling the threat of climate change. We need the international
process to continue, building on what we could agree in the
Copenhagen Accord and finding new ways to instil trust back
into the process.
'An important element in this
strategy should be the implementation of the fast-start financing
we have committed to last December. We should not forget that
those who were working more closely with us in Copenhagen
were the developing countries -0 particularly the poorest
and most vulnerable.
'But our core goal must be
to bring all partners closer to our own ambitions and to our
commitment to a multilateral agreement. Copenhagen showed
us just how tough it will be. Hence, if we are to progress,
we have to rethink our approach to these partners.
'I have, therefore, asked
Connie Hedegaard, the Commissioner for Climate Action, to
undertake a consultation of key international partners to
find ways to reinvigorate the international process. I would
hope to have some first thoughts by the Spring European Council
and then to feed the results in full into the Ministerial
level negotiations announced by Chancellor Merkel and the
June European Council. I would, of course, hope that this
process can also benefit from your own reflections on the
direction of partners' thinking.
'The work we are already doing
to tackle climate change can act as a powerful lever for others
to follow - but it must be seen as a genuinely collective
approach. I will be discussing with Herman Van Rompuy the
best way to address these elements in March, as well as how
we can ensure a powerful and unified EU voice on these critical
issues for the future.'
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