VZCZCXRO3096
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHHM RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA
RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBS #0390 0771648
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181648Z MAR 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNMUC/EU CANDIDATE STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 000390 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EIND ENRG EUN EWWT KGHG SENV TPHY TRGY
TSPL 
SUBJECT: EU COUNCIL LEAVES MAJOR ISSUES IN COPENHAGEN 
PROCESS UNRESOLVED 
 
REF: BRUSSELS 198 
 
¶1. (SBU) During their March 19-20 European Council meeting, 
EU Heads of State are unlikely to make any definitive 
statements related to the EU position at the UN climate 
conference in Copenhagen; instead, they will leave virtually 
all issues unresolved and open for further discussion in 
subsequent Council meetings.  This will likely be a 
disappointment to the European Commission, which had laid out 
specific objectives for Copenhagen in its January Copenhagen 
Communication (reftel), but after discussion by the Council 
of Environment Ministers on March 2 and the Council of 
Finance Ministers on March 10, the EU's 27 leaders do not 
appear prepared to commit to the concepts put forth by the 
Commission, allowing major issues such as financing and 
mitigation efforts for developed and developing countries to 
be discussed further.  As such, this debate will continue 
into the summer, with one Member State official explaining to 
USEU EconOff that the financing conversation could move to a 
"symbolic fight" among Member States in the fall. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The EU leaders are expected to echo the 
generalizations put forth by Finance Ministers last week, and 
will say that the EU is prepared to take on its fair share of 
financing climate change efforts in developing countries, 
referring to the "significant domestic and external sources 
of finance" necessary for mitigation and adaptation.  The 
Commission argued that it believes 175 billion euros per year 
in 2020 is necessary for global mitigation, but the leaders 
are not yet willing as a group to endorse that same figure, 
reflecting the divisions among Member States about how the 
burden might be shared.  Countries such as Sweden and 
Denmark, the next EU Presidency country and host of the UN 
conference respectively, are pressing for the EU to make a 
strong statement by committing now to a financing number.  On 
the other side, Poland and Italy, among others, want the 
impact of the financial crisis to be incorporated into any 
references to financing climate change efforts.  They refuse 
to undertake commitments at the moment, and these voices, at 
least for the foreseeable future, are likely to dominate 
discussions. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In what appears to be a trend in several Member 
States, major decisions are moving to the EU leaders.  This 
movement is a bit of a departure from standard practice 
(though more difficult issues often are generally confronted 
only when the EU leaders meet), and appears to be driven by 
Poland and others, who prefer Heads of State and Government 
to have control.  According to a Member State representative, 
Poland learned what was termed "an unfortunate lesson (for 
the other Member States)" during the debate on the Climate 
and Energy Package last year, when decisions taken during the 
December EU Council enabled Poland to make large gains in the 
final text.  As such, Poland now wants decisions on climate 
change to be taken only by the European Council.  This 
concept appears to be gaining ground at least in a few other 
Member States, as control over the issue, seen as a major 
priority in most of Europe, moves from Environment Ministries 
to the offices of presidents and prime ministers.  This trend 
could lessen the influence of the Environment Councils over 
the course of the year, particularly as financial issues 
dominate conversations. 
 
MURRAY 
.