Eerste resultaten van de Raad Milieu van 20 oktober 2008 (en)
Jean-Louis Borloo, the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Regional Development, and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French Minister of State for Ecology, presided over the Council in Luxembourg of the EU environment ministers on 20 October 2008.
This working meeting was primarily the occasion for more in-depth discussions of the ongoing debate on combating climate change, a major challenge which will involve the European economies in the long term and which the French Presidency wished to make a priority.
The ministers agreed on the need for the European Union to adopt a coordinated position to mobilize other participants at the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will be held in Poznan (Poland) from 1 to 12 December 2008. The French Presidency will continue to seek agreement of all the Member States between now and the end of the year.
With regard to the priority issue for the European Union, the energy-climate legislative package, ministers at the Council called for the debate to move beyond the progress made in the expert-level discussions to the political dimension in order to start negotiations with the European Parliament as soon as sufficient progress has been made.
Borloo reiterated his conviction that an agreement at first reading was not only possible but was crucial if the European Union wished to adopt the energy-climate package before the international negotiations in Poznan.
While taking account of the immediate concerns relating to the economic situation, the French environment minister emphasized the EU’s duty to develop a long-term policy to contribute to combating climate change, reducing the EU’s energy-dependence and ensuring the transition to a low-carbon economy, which would guarantee Europe’s future competitiveness.
This constructive meeting allowed a comprehensive overview of the participants’ different points of view to be obtained.