Did Sarkozy's stint change the EU for good?

IHT

Six months after France illuminated the Eiffel Tower in a deep cobalt blue to open its European Union presidency, the Czech Republic - which takes over the job in January - asked privately if the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, would take part in a handover ceremony.

Sarkozy, came the polite but firm reply, does not want to be the person who switches off the giant neon EU symbol on the famous Paris landmark. The anecdote, relayed privately by an informed official, is telling. With his hyperactive political style, Sarkozy has dominated the European stage at a time of crisis and is making no secret of his reluctance to leave the limelight. "I have loved this job," Sarkozy told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday in his farewell presidency appearance there.

What is less clear is whether his eventful six-month presidency has fundamentally changed the EU - and French attitudes to it - or simply given a restless leader a tool to burnish his image at home and abroad.

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  Few dispute that the French presidency had its successes. Although Moscow failed to implement the letter of a cease-fire in Georgia negotiated by Sarkozy, it did enough for the EU to resume formal partnership talks with Russia, the bloc's vast neighbor, key energy supplier and trading partner.


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  Then, as the international economic crisis took hold, Paris filled part of the vacuum left by the outgoing U.S. administration, helping convene a meeting of the most powerful global economies and coordinating a European response.


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  And last week Sarkozy persuaded all 27 EU nations to sign up to binding laws on how to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020. Despite making compromises to industry, this still left Europe in the vanguard of efforts to curb global warming.


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  Sarkozy's leadership has helped to reconnect the French with the EU, just three years after France - a founding member of the bloc - shocked itself and others by rejecting the EU's constitution in a referendum. In a BVA poll published Tuesday, 56 percent of the French approved of Sarkozy's EU presidency, while his domestic policies remain deeply unpopular.


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  Sarkozy has also surprised some by forging an alliance with Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, even inviting him to a meeting of countries that use the euro, which Britain has shunned.


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  Not everyone is pleased of course. Relations between Paris and Berlin are frosty. At a meeting in London with Brown two weeks ago, Sarkozy made clear his exasperation with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, for her reluctance to bolster government spending further to combat the slowdown, according to one diplomat who attended the meeting but is not authorized to speak about it.

"For six months he felt like the king of the world - Bush was a lame-duck president and he was in the driving seat of the EU," Moïsi said. "Now Obama is coming in and he is no longer president of Europe. He will not accept such a demise."

In some ways, Sarkozy has already forged a legacy. By lobbying for the G20 meeting in Washington in November and setting the stage for a follow-up in London in April, he has created a precedent that his successors cannot ignore. If the global economy continues to deteriorate, his ability as crisis manager might be called on once more

Sarkozy's main challenge...will be to maintain good relations with Britain, repair ties with Germany and then establish a close link with Obama. "Managing that equation will be key to his ability to remain influential beyond the presidency."

There is, however, a debate over what lessons to draw from the last six months. One of the deals struck under the French EU presidency was to pave the way for a second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - an accord meant to strengthen the EU as a world player that was rejected by the Irish in a first referendum last June.

Beyond squabbles, the main question, observers say, is whether recent crises suggest that Europe can operate as a bloc to balance the rise of the growing economic powers in Asia. Persistent divisions have weakened the EU's hand with Moscow. Tensions between France and Britain, and between France and Germany, have strained the EU's response to the economic crisis. In Paris, diplomats are optimistic. As one senior official put it Tuesday: "The French presidency has shown that when Europe wants, it can have a voice."

New Romanian government

Emil Boc is the new Romanian prime minister. He has been sworn into his role. He is the youngest ever Romanian leader and will lead a coalition of the liberal and social democrats. Boc was the second choice of President Traian Basescu when Theodor Stolojan turned him down last week.

President Basescu said: “A compromise was needed in order to get through a difficult period, and I want to believe that this government will fulfill its mission until 2012.”

Boc says his goal is the stability of the country, to sort out the economic crisis, tighten state budgets, and introduce reforms, draconian ones if necessary. Boc says the aim is to get Romania out from under the watchful eye of the EU while continuing the drive for membership of the Eurozone. (Euronews)

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Romania's parliament approved a new government on Monday after the prime minister designate vowed to cut public spending by 20 percent to try to deal with a looming economic crisis. Emil Boc's center-left government was approved in a 324-115 vote by parliament, after the two main coalition partners won 70 percent of seats in Nov. 30 elections.

"The crisis is not an excuse to not have reforms," Boc said before the vote. "We will have a measured government that will reduce costs by 20 percent." The new government "has two messages," he said: "More work and (we will use) the same cars, same offices and the same sofas."

The government was sworn in late Monday by President Traian Basescu. Boc, 42, heads the Democratic Liberal Party, which will control the economy, defense and finance ministries.

The other main coalition party is the Social Democratic Party. Its leader, Mircea Geoana, is the new head of the Senate. The new head of the lower chamber of deputies is a former Miss Romania, Roberta Anastase of the Democratic Liberal Party. (AP)

Latvia Secures 7.5 Billion Euros in IMF, EU Loans

Latvia will receive a 7.5 billion- euro ($10.4 billion) loan from a group led by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to help bolster the country’s economy and banking system roiled by the global financial crisis.

The financial assistance package will cover the period up to the beginning of 2011, the European Commission said in an e- mailed statement today. The IMF will provide 1.7 billion euros, the Nordic countries will together give 1.8 billion euros and the European Union will supply as much as 3.1 billion euros, with the balance covered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic, according to the statement.

Latvia, like Hungary, Belarus, Iceland and Serbia, turned to the IMF for financial support after its economy contracted 4.6 percent in the third quarter and the government was forced to take over its second-biggest bank. Fitch Ratings had previously estimated that the bailout could be about 5 billion euros, according to a baseline scenario.

Latvia’s parliament passed measures to slash expenditures and cut public sector wages by 15 percent in 2009, and to reduce the budget deficit to less than 5 percent of gross domestic product as part of the agreement to secure the loan. The austerity program is equal to about 7 percent of GDP.

Latvia may “have to adjust the budget even more severely,” should the economic contraction be deeper than forecast, Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis said at the news conference in Riga today. “These strong policies justify the exceptional level of access to Fund resources -- equivalent to around 1200 percent of Latvia’s quota in the IMF,” said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn in an e-mailed statement today.

Latvia’s economy is expected to contract 5 percent next year, compared with a 10 percent expansion in 2007, as the cuts in government spending and revenue equal about 7 percent of its gross domestic product.

The 7.5 billion euro figure means Latvia is getting a bailout equal to about 33 percent of its estimated $30 billion economy, compared with Hungary’s $25.5 billion loan, which was equal to about 17 percent of its $147 billion economy, Ken Orchard, Vice-President and Senior Analyst at Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group, said in a telephone interview. Latvia has more short-term debt than Hungary, Orchard said. Before the EU statement was released, Orchard said he expected the loan would reassure financial markets.

Bloomberg

EU nations agree on new rules for fish catch

The European Union nations have agreed on changes to the way fishermen will hunt the Atlantic next year, hoping it will give threatened fish a sustainable future and fishermen more lucrative catches.
The 27 EU fisheries ministers agreed unanimously to contain the wasteful practice of throwing certain fish overboard because they do not meet catch quotas or commercial or environmental standards. The effort is top replenish dwindling stocks of fish. The rules agreed to for 2009 will allow fishermen to market more fish while catching fewer, the ministers said Friday.
AP

A képviselők elfogadták az EU 2009-es költségvetését

Az Európai Parlament strasbourgi plenárisán megszavazta az Európai Unió jövő évi költségvetését. A kifizetések szintjén 116,1 milliárd eurós büdzsében a korábban javasoltnál több jut a növekedés, a kohézió és a foglalkoztatás támogatására.

A Tanács és az EP képviselői által november 21-én elfogadott tervezet szerint 2009-ben 116,1 milliárd euró lesz az Európai Unió költségvetése (a kifizetéseket tekintve). A kötelezettségvállalások szintjén 133,8 milliárd eurós a 2009-es büdzsé, ahogy azt az EP első olvasatban javasolta. A képviselők ugyanakkor kritikával illették, hogy a maximális kiadási plafon (kötelezettségvállalási szint) és a valóban felhasznált összegek (kifizetések) közötti különbség évről évre növekszik. A parlament ezért többek között a kohéziós alap hatékonyabb felhasználását és a költségvetés jobb felhasználhatóságának biztosítását várja el a Bizottságtól és a tagállamoktól. Az elfogadott költségvetés lehetővé teszi, hogy több pénz jusson a parlament által az első olvasatban prioritásként megjelölt területekre (ilyen például az első fejezet: foglalkoztatás, növekedés, kohézió, versenyképesség).

A korábbi tervezethez képest többet kap a műholdas Galileo-program, az EU határvédelmi ügynöksége, a Frontex is, valamint emelkedik az Európai Menekültalap, valamint az energiával, a klímaváltozással kapcsolatos politikák költségvetése is.

Euvonal

Parlamenti jóváhagyás a klímacsomagnak

A klímacsomagról az Európai Tanács múlt heti csúcsán született kompromisszumos megállapodást tegnap (2008. december 17.) az Európai Parlament is nagy többséggel megszavazta. Ezzel a döntéssel végérvényesen jóváhagyták az unió 2020-ig megvalósítandó, energiahatékonyságra, megújuló energiákra és a szén-dioxid kibocsátásának csökkentésre vonatkozó „húszas” keretcsomagját.

Kibocsátási kvóták: 2025-tól csak árverésen

Az Európai Tanácson született döntés szerint az uniós üvegházgáz-kibocsátást 2020-ra 20 százalékkal - szélesebb körű nemzetközi megállapodás esetén 30 százalékkal – kell csökkenteni. A kibocsátás csökkentésének kiemelt uniós eszköze az európai kibocsátás-kereskedelmi rendszer (EU Emission Trading System - ETS). Ebben meghatározzák a lehetséges maximális kibocsátást, a fel nem használt kvótákat pedig értékesíteni lehet. A rendszerbe tartozó gázok kibocsátását az ETS harmadik, 2013-tól 2020-ig tartó szakaszában a viszonyítási évnek választott 2005-höz képest 21 százalékkal kell csökkenteni.

A csúcson számos kelet-európai állam nyomására, ezen országok korábbi kibocsátás-csökkentésére tekintettel a csúcs résztvevői végül úgy döntöttek, kompenzációként az összes árverésen értékesítendő kibocsátási kvóta 12 százalékát újraosztják ezen érintett tagországok között. Jelenleg az ETS-be mintegy 10 ezer ipari, energetikai létesítmény tartozik. Ezekből származik az uniós üvegházgáz-kibocsátás mintegy 40 százaléka. A képviselők helyeselték, hogy az ETS-t újabb ipari területekre (alumínium, petrolkémia stb.) is kiterjesszék.

Az ETS első és második szakaszában (2005-2012) a kvóták nagy részét ingyenesen osztották ki. Az európai tanácsi megállapodás értelmében viszont 2025-ig (nem pedig 2020-ig, ahogy az a korábbi szövegekben szerepelt) kellene elérni, hogy az összes kibocsátási egységet csak aukción lehessen megvásárolni (2013-ig 20, 2020-ig 80 százalék a cél). Az energiaszektorban azonban már 2013-ig el kellene érni a 100 százalékos árvereztetési arányt.

Az egész rendszer számos kivételt tartalmaz. A képviselők az árverésből származó bevételeket - amelyek bizottsági becslések szerint 2020-ra éves szinten akár az 50 milliárd eurót is elérhetik - a klímaváltozás elleni küzdelemre akarják felhasználni.

Tagállami erőfeszítések az üvegházgázok visszaszorítására 2013 és 2020 között minden tagállamnak csökkentenie kell az üvegházhatású gázok kibocsátását azokon a területeken is, amelyek nem tartoznak az ETS rendszerébe. Ilyen például a közúti és tengeri szállítás, az építőipar, a szolgáltatások, a kisebb ipari létesítmények, a mezőgazdaság és a hulladékgazdálkodás. (Ez jelenleg az uniós összkibocsátás 60 százalékát teszi ki.)

Az EP támogatta az Európai Bizottság által javasolt nemzeti kibocsátás-csökkentési célértékeket, amelyek uniós szinten 10 százalékos csökkentést jelentenek 2020-ra. Magyarországnak 2020-ra a 2005-ös szinthez képest 10 százalékkal kell csökkentenie az ETS-en kívüli kibocsátását.

Szén-dioxid-megkötés

Az Európai Unió támogatja az erőművek szén-dioxid-kibocsátásának a föld mélyében történő tárolását, az úgynevezett széncsapdás tárolási technológia alkalmazását. A parlament támogatta a javaslatot, mivel egyes számítások szerint ez a technológia 2050-re akár 50 százalékkal is csökkentheti az uniós szén-dioxid-kibocsátást.

Megújuló energiaforrások

Az EP támogatta azt a célkitűzést, hogy 2020-ra az EU összes energiafogyasztásának legalább 20 százaléka megújuló energiaforrásokat használjon fel, az ezt szabályozó irányelvet 2014-ben felülvizsgálják, viszont a kijelölt célarány ekkor sem változhat.

Magyarország a 2005-ös adatok szerint 4,3 százalékon állt, a hazánknak kiosztott kvóta értelmében ezt 2020-ig 12,6 százalékra kellene feltornázni.

Az EP emellett támogatta az Európai Bizottságnak azt a javaslatát is, hogy 2020-ra a közúti közlekedésben felhasznált üzemanyagoknak legalább 10 százaléka származzon megújuló energiaforrásokból. A képviselők kiemelten ösztönöznék a második generációs - hulladékból vagy biomasszából, vagyis az élelmiszer-termeléssel nem versengő módon előállított - bioüzemanyag felhasználását.

Autók szén-dioxid-kibocsátása

Az előzetes egyezség szerint 2012-re a jelenlegi 160 grammról egységesen átlagosan 120 grammra kell csökkenteni az autók által kilométerenként kibocsátott szén-dioxid mennyiségét. 30 grammnyi csökkentést a gépjárműmotor technológiájának fejlesztésével, míg a fennmaradó 10 grammnyit egyéb fejlesztésekkel kellene elérni, mint például a jobb gumik vagy a bioüzemanyagok használata.

A hosszú távú célkitűzés szerint 2020-tól kezdve az új autók kilométerenkénti szén-dioxid-kibocsátása átlagban nem léphetné túl a 95 grammot. 2015-ig köztes célokat határoznak meg az autógyártók számára, 2012-től kezdve azonban - egyre növekvő mértékben - bírsággal sújtanák a megengedett határértéken felüli kibocsátást.

10 százalékkal kevesebb üvegházgáz az üzemanyagokból

A képviselők támogatták, hogy az üzemanyaggyártókat kötelezzék az üvegházházhatású gázok kibocsátásának 10 százalékkal történő csökkentésére 2020-ig, mellyel mintegy 500 millió tonna széndioxid levegőbe jutását lehetne megakadályozni.

Slovenia blocks Croatian EU talks

Slovenia has moved to block neighbouring Croatia from joining it in the European Union, in a continuing dispute over boundaries. Croatia began negotiations on joining the 27-member bloc three years ago, with further talks due on Friday.

But Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said Croatia had submitted maps showing boundaries Slovenia disputed as part of its pre-joining reform process. Croatia denied the claim and called on Slovenia to reconsider its move.

Mr Pahor said Croatia was using documents in negotiations that are prejudicial to the 17-year-old territorial dispute between the two countries - a charge Croatia denies. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said his government still hoped to complete talks by the end of 2009 as planned and expected Slovenia to reconsider. "I'm not a big optimist when I say that, but I think that it would be good if they did that," he said, according to AFP news agency.

BBC

European Parliament approves opening of defence market

The EU moved one step closer to a single market in the area of defence on Tuesday (16 December), with the European Parliament approving a commission proposal aimed at harmonising and simplifying national rules in this area.

The current Nice treaty provides that internal market rules are not applied to the defence market, allowing member states to exclude defence contracts from EU procurement rules. Moreover, 27 national licensing procedures make transfers of defence material between countries difficult, as they differ in terms of requirements. The licensing rules also apply to the export of defence related products such as spare parts or even army boots. Applying heterogeneous and disproportionate national licensing systems is hampering the security of supply between member states and costs businesses over €400 million a year, a commission statement reads.

The proposal drafted by German green MEP Heide Ruhle and endorsed by the plenum on Tuesday provides a European system of licences which will be uniform and applicable throughout the 27 member states. Licences will nonetheless be granted at the national level, with governments still free to impose sanctions if the contractor fails to respect the licensing conditions. The parliament also added some extra provisions to guarantee the security of transfers, notably with respect to the final recipients of products or components, in order to ensure that arms do not reach conflict zones.

The market fragmentation was also a problem identified in the recently reviewed EU security strategy, endorsed by heads of states and governments at their 11-12 December meeting. "Restructuring of the European defence technological and industrial base, in particular around centres of European excellence, avoiding duplication, in order to ensure its soundness and its competitiveness, is a strategic and economic necessity. In this connection, the European Council calls for early finalisation of the Directives on intra-Community transfer of defence goods and on defence procurement," the summit conclusions read.

EU security and defence boosted - European Council

The European Union's security and defence policy and a deal dating back to 1999 in which the EU would be able to deploy 60,000 troops within 60 days won a renewed political endorsement on Friday(12 December) by EU leaders, who failed however to establish any deadlines or specific financial commitments.

"Co-operation with NATO is important, but we need our own defence policy together with our allies. The EU cannot remain a midget in defence and a giant economically. This is not possible," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a press conference after the last meeting of heads of state and government he chaired as EU president.

Yet what had earlier been presented as one of the main priorities of the French EU presidency, L'Europe de la defence got left behind in favour of discussions over the Lisbon Treaty, climate change and the financial crisis during the summit.

Unlike these three thorniest of dossiers, the defence package was largely uncontroversial, as it was mainly a political statement aimed at giving "a fresh impetus" to the bloc's security and defence policy (ESDP) without antagonising NATO or touching upon the national competence of member states in this area.

Pooling and sharing equipment, aircraft and ships was still a "goal" to be reached on a "voluntary basis ... with priority being given to planning, crisis management, space and maritime security."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that African and not EU troops should be sent to reinforce U.N. peacekeepers in troubled Congo. Sarkozy, the current EU president, said European nations were too stretched in other military commitments elsewhere to commit to sending an EU battlegroup to eastern Congo, where rebels are fighting government forces.

Ireland agrees to 2nd vote on EU treaty - European Council

Ireland agreed in principle Thursday to hold a second vote on an accord designed to strengthen the European Union, but opponents promised to try to turn Europe-wide elections next year into a referendum on the way the bloc does business.

EU leaders in Brussels this week (11-12 December) agreed to a series of concessions to allow Dublin to make possible a second vote on the bloc's Lisbon Treaty some time in the course of next year.

These include a guarantee that each member state will keep a commissioner in future European Commissions – despite the document initially foreseeing a reduction of the size of the institution, as well as a promise that the EU would not impose rules on Ireland concerning taxation, "ethical issues" – such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriages - or interfere with its traditional neutrality.

In order to make these promises legally binding, they will be written into a protocol in Croatia's accession treaty.

In exchange for receiving concessions from the other EU countries, Ireland has committed to holding a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty by November 2009.

Euobserver

Tassos Papadopoulos, hard-line Cypriot leader, dies at 74

Tassos Papadopoulos, the hard-line former president of Cyprus, who ushered the divided island into the European Union after rallying Greek Cypriots to reject a United Nations peace deal, died Friday of lung cancer. He was 74.

Papadopoulos served as president from 2003 to March 2008. A longtime chain smoker, he was hospitalized last month with severe breathing problems.

His successor, President Dimitris Christofias, called him "one of the protagonists of our country's modern history." Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, expressed sorrow over Papadopoulos's death and conveyed his condolences to the late president's family, his official Web site said.

Switzerland in the Schengen area

Land border controls between Switzerland and the 24 countries currently making up the Schengen area have been lifted on the 12th of December 2008. Switzerland has also joined the Dublin system, which establishes the criteria for determining which Member State is responsible for examining an application for asylum.

Commission President, Mr José Manuel Barroso, announced: "I would like to congratulate Switzerland, the European Presidency and all the Member States for their efforts to extend the Schengen area to include Switzerland as from today. My sincere congratulations to Switzerland. Schengen has been successful in dismantling obstacles to unity, peace and freedom in Europe, while also paving the way for enhanced security. Today, Switzerland has once again shown its commitment to cooperating as closely as possible with the European Union for the benefit of the Swiss people."

Following the enlargement of the Schengen area to include nine new members (Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) on 21 December last year, today Switzerland is celebrating its accession. This will facilitate the development of border regions and the expansion of tourism, and will have a beneficial impact on infrastructures. For bona fide travellers, moving between the existing Schengen members and Switzerland will be faster and easier. Third-country nationals will be able to travel carrying a single Schengen visa and will no longer need separate national visas.

Switzerland’s link-up to the Schengen Information System - which enables information to be shared on wanted and missing people, those refused entry, and lost and stolen property - was secured before its membership could be agreed. In November the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs concluded that Switzerland met the criteria laid down in the Community acquis.

The Commission is certain that the Swiss authorities will take all the necessary steps to ensure that air border controls can be lifted as planned in March 2009.

A pragmatic solution was found for the border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the Commission hopes that the procedures for ratifying the Protocol on the association of Liechtenstein will be completed as soon as possible, allowing Liechtenstein to join the Schengen area by the end of 2009, once an assessment has been carried out.

Switzerland has also acceded to the Dublin acquis. In this connection, the Commission on 3 December submitted amendments to the Dublin and Eurodac Regulations that aim to consolidate protection for asylum seekers and to make the Dublin system more effective. This proposal is in line with the desire to create a common European asylum system with which Switzerland will now be associated, involving a very high level of protection for asylum seekers and for those benefiting from international protection within the EU.

Climate Deal - European Council

A megállapodás fő pontjai:

-Maradnak az ambíciózus 20%-kos célok a CO2 kibocsátás csökkentése, az energiahatékonyság növelése és a megújuló energiaforrások arányának emelése tekintetében.

-A 20%-kos célt 2010-ben felülvizsgálhatjuk, annak függvényében 30%-ra emelhetjük, hogy a többi fejlett ipari ország milyen vállalásokat tesz a jövőre kezdődő koppenhágai klímakonferencián

-A klímapolitika összekapcsolódik az európai energiapolitikával: az energiahálózatok összekapcsolása, az energia-szolidaritás és az energiabiztonság kérdésével

-A Co2 kibocsátás-kereskedelmi rendszer 2013-ban indul, 2027-re a teljes iparra kiterjed

-Azon ágazatok, amelyek ki vannak téve a "carbon-leakage" (a költségemelkedés meghaladja a hozzáadott érték 5%-át) veszélyének a kibocsátási jogaikat ingyen kapják 2013-ban, majd a Bizottság egy később kidolgozandó mérési eljárást dolgoz ki ezen ágazatok számára

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OVER to you, President Obama. That was the message from European Union leaders at a summit on Friday December 12th, as they agreed that Europe would take a global lead in fighting climate change. But they also agreed to protect local heavy industry if the world’s biggest polluters did not follow suit, starting with America.

In theory, the Brussels summit for government chiefs from the 27 EU states was merely a tidying-up exercise. It was intended to spell out how Europe will fulfil promises already made back in March 2007 to make deep cuts in EU carbon emissions, to use energy more efficiently, and increase the use of energy from renewable sources, like wind, wave power and the burning of plant waste. Those promises—inelegantly dubbed the 20-20-20 plan—would involve cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% over 1990 levels, obtaining 20% of energy from renewables and making 20% savings in energy use over forecast levels, all by the year 2020.

That was then. In the intervening months, leaders have seen booming economies slip into a nasty slump, prompting fears that they might slide away from their 2007 deal. In the end, the final summit conclusions preserved those headline promises, as well as a pledge that the EU would make 30% cuts in emissions if other big polluters agree to their own binding carbon limits at an important international meeting to be held in Copenhagen at the end of 2009. But political bosses agreed to make hefty concessions to countries with industries that emit lots of greenhouse gases, such as Germany and Italy, as well as ex-communist nations like Poland, that burn large amounts of coal to produce electricity.

A trading scheme remains at the heart of the next wave of EU action on climate change. Initial plans were to sell allowances to firms at auction, rather than give them away free, as mostly happens now. With recessionary winds swirling, the summit agreed big concessions to countries that worried about spiralling electricity bills for consumers, or job losses through “carbon leakage”: jargon for factory owners shutting up shop and relocating to parts of the world that do not penalise greenhouse gases.

A new clause allows the EU’s poorest, most coal-dependent countries to receive up to 70% of their allowances for industrial carbon emissions free initially. By 2020, however, their firms will have to buy all permits at auction.

Concerns over carbon leakage were met with a promise that, if other big polluters do not sign up to binding curbs at Copenhagen next year, heavy industrial sectors vulnerable to foreign competition would receive up to 100% of their allowances free—but only if they meet “benchmarks” for using the cleanest available technology. There will also be funds for developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

Eurocrats say that awarding free allowances will not harm Europe’s drive to reduce emissions, noting that allowances will be capped, and then steadily reduced in number each year. There will still be high costs for non-compliance with the plan, they argue. The concessions mean there would be no costs for firms complying with the plan, and in many cases windfall profits, as they pass on the nominal costs of allowances to consumers, despite receiving them for free. Such windfall profits have already earned some power generators in Europe billions of euros, sparking rows.

The Economist

EU funds euro1.7 billion in rail works

The European Union has approved euro1.7 billion (US$2.15 billion) in funding for 11 railway projects aimed at clearing bottlenecks in Europe's transport grid.

The European Commission said Friday that the decision also shows that it is continuing to invest to improve the continent's environment and business competitiveness. The works will specifically be used for the modernization of tunnels and the building of new lines in Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia and Hungary. The main aim is to make the main lines from Berlin to Palermo and Lyon to Budapest easier to use.

Alku a gépkocsik szén-dioxid-kibocsátásáról

Hosszas egyeztetések után az unió tagországai és intézményei hétfőn végül megállapodtak arról, hogy 2015-től az EU-ban az újonnan gyártott autók széndioxid-kibocsátása nem haladhatja meg kilométerenként a 130 grammot.

A megállapodás valamelyest visszalépést jelent az eredeti célokhoz képest, mely 2012-től vezette volna be ezt a maximumot, de az alku értelmében ezt csak 2015-től kell alkalmazni, 2012-től kezdődő fokozatos csökkentés mellett.

A megállapodás 2020-ra további jelentős csökkentést helyez kilátásba. Az előírást nem teljesítő autógyártók büntetése is fokozatosan fog növekedni, eleinte plusz kibocsátásért grammonként 5 euró büntetésre számíthatnak, mely büntetés idővel fokozatosan növekszik, majd 2018-ra grammonként már 95 euró bírságot kell fizetnie a maximális kibocsátást túllépő gyároknak.

Környezetvédő szervezetek már előre bírálták az uniós döntéshozókat, jelen trendeket figyelembe véve ugyanis prognosztizálható, hogy - a megállapodás ellenére - még évekig nőni fog az újonnan gyártott autók szén-dioxid kibocsátása, mielőtt a megállapodás értelmében a gyártók csökkentenék azt. Sajtóértesülések szerint az eredeti terv enyhítését elsősorban a befolyásos német autógyártó cégek járták ki.

2005-ben kilométerenként 159 gramm volt az EU-ban az új autók széndioxid-kibocsátása.

Euvonal

Romanian elections

Romania's parliamentary election results Monday showed the centrist and leftist parties less than a percentage point apart with more than 99 percent of the vote counted, raising the prospect of tough negotiations to form a coalition.

The leftist Social Democrats had slightly more with more than 33.5 percent while the centrist Democratic Liberal Party, supported by President Traian Basescu, had about 33 percent of the votes from Sunday's election, in which anxiety over the global financial crisis was a major issue.

The center-right Liberal Party was third with about 18 percent so far, said Election Office spokesman Marian Muhulet.

With 99.62 percent of the vote counted, the near final results showed the ethnic Hungarian Party with more than 6 percent of votes. The ultranationalist Greater Romania Party was failing to reach the 5 percent minimum, the results showed.

Basescu will name the prime minister, and Parliament will vote on whether to validate his choice.

iht