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Berlusconi hails EU climate deal

Italian demands met but Europe must not ‘foot bill’ alone Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday said he was satisfied that Italy’s requests had been accommodated in a compromise on the European Union’s climate package.

”Once again our tactical ability has paid off,” he said after the leaders of the 27 member states hammered out a new deal on the climate package that takes the global economic crisis into account.

Berlusconi said Europe was now at the forefront of the battle against climate change but insisted that it could not be ”left to foot the bill on its own”.

”The other carbon-dioxide emitting countries must also make a commitment at the Copenhagen world climate conference in 2009,” Berlusconi said.

The new deal accommodates two Italian demands that Foreign Minister Franco Frattini described as deal-breakers earlier this week.

In one new clause, the entire climate package will be reviewed in March 2010 after the Copenhagen conference in December 2009 in order to ensure Europe is not isolated, and therefore penalised economically, in its fight against climate change.

In a second major concession to Italy, the Italian manufacturing sector will receive free ‘polluting permits’ when European industries and companies have to start ‘paying to pollute’
via an auction system in 2013.

”No Italian jobs will be put in jeopardy and the manufacturing industry will be fully safeguarded,” said Italian EU Affairs Minister Andrea Ronchi.

Renewable energy credits generated by Italian-funded projects in non-European countries, such as Albanian windfarms, will also be viable on the European market until 2016.

Germany, Poland and other eastern European countries who had expressed concerns about the package also found satisfactory compromises on Friday.

”We reached an accord that on one hand stands firm on the aims of greenhouse gas emission reduction and on the other takes into account the needs of the various member states, emphasising the sustainability of the measures by the various national economies as
Italy had requested,” Italian Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who led the talks, thanked Berlusconi for helping to reach the deal quickly, while Berlusconi paid tribute to Sarkozy’s ”intelligence and dedication”.

On Thursday the Italian premier had repeated a threat to veto the package if Italy’s demands were not met, and said in a frank exchange with journalists that he thought it was ”absurd” to be
talking about carbon emissions in the face of the more pressing financial crisis.

”It’s like someone with pneumonia thinking about having a hairdo,” he said.

The climate package sticks to its original aims of a 2020 deadline to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% below 1990 levels through a 20% increase in the use of renewable energy and a 20% boost in energy efficiency.

However, environmental groups including Greenpeace, WWF, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth branded the new deal a ”failure”, saying it was now dramatically watered down with compromises.

The deal will be examined by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on December 17.

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