When the best news for Brussels is coming out of London, EU leaders have clearly had a tough night.
Just as the British election results appeared to bring clarity to the Brexit process, the EU’s new leaders — Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — resorted to a messy fudge early Friday to mask their failure to convince all 27 remaining EU countries to sign on to an ambitious new objective to become climate neutral by 2050.
Poland, the largest of the EU’s fastest-growing economies in recent years, balked at the new target.
But rather than conceding the obvious defeat — given that the Council must take such decisions unanimously — the heads of state and government endorsed the EU-wide objective while effectively granting Poland an exemption, and said they would revisit the issue at another leaders’ summit in June.
Michel, at a news conference, struggled to explain the inherent contradiction in claiming to have secured agreement, while also conceding a need to come back to the issue again in June with the hope of bringing Poland on board.
“We have reached an agreement on climate change” — Charles Michel, European Council President
It seemed to be precisely the sort of shifty political spin that Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist, had warned about in remarks Wednesday at the COP25 climate conference in Madrid.
“The biggest danger is not inaction,” Thunberg said, speaking about efforts to work out rules for global carbon markets. “The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening when in fact almost nothing is being done apart from clever accounting and creative PR.”
While officials said the Council’s decision effectively obligated the rest of the EU to meet the climate-neutral target even if Poland refused to participate, in fact such a scenario would very likely derail the bloc’s efforts because of the enormous additional cost it would impose on other countries and the disadvantage it would create for their industries and businesses.
At the news conference, Michel, a former Belgian prime minister who was presiding over an EU summit for the first time, insisted that it was simply a matter of Poland needing more time — a strange assertion given that the new target would not require the EU to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions until 2050, more than 20 years from now.
“We have reached an agreement on climate change,” Michel declared at the start of his remarks.
Challenged by reporters, Michel insisted that the commitment was solid while also allowing that Poland had refused to go along.
“We want Europe as the first climate-neutral continent,” he continued. “We took this decision with respect for many concerns of different countries because we know that it is important to take into consideration the different national circumstances, and also different starting points.”
He added, “And we have also taken into consideration the fact that for one member state it is necessary to take more time before they implement this objective and we will have the occasion by June 2020 to come back in the Council regarding this country.”
Von der Leyen, the new Commission president, quickly chimed in with praise.
“First of all my congratulations for your first Council and such a success,” von der Leyen said. “This was an intensive, vivid debate about the Green Deal and our goal to be the first climate-neutral continent in 2050 and you were successful.”
Challenged by reporters, Michel insisted that the commitment was solid while also allowing that Poland had refused to go along.
Von der Leyen said the Commission’s own policy goals would not change as a result of Poland’s reluctance to sign on to the new objective | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
“It is a very important decision we take today because we consider this climate neutrality by 2050 is our common goal,” Michel said. “But at the same time, it’s correct that for one member state at this stage, it’s not possible to commit to implement this objective and it means that we will have a new meeting in the Council in order to consider the situation of this country.”
Pressed yet again about the sense that EU leaders seemed increasingly “imaginative” in trying to reach decisions, Michel said: “Yes, I think we do need creativity in Europe if we are going to get the European project further. Of course we do need the creativity but we also need a steady compass and a steady compass says that our ambition is, or points in the direction, of Europe being a leader internationally in terms of the green economy.”
Last June, it was Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic that were the hold-outs in refusing to support the climate-neutral objective for 2050. And those three entered Thursday’s summit still in opposition, and demanding guarantees that the EU would mobilize the necessary financial support to help mitigate the economic hardship of more ambitious climate policies.
The Commission, in its European Green Deal plan unveiled on Wednesday, called for the creation of a Just Transition Fund to provide such assistance. But it’s unclear that EU countries facing an array of competing budget demands, as well as a budget shortfall created by the U.K.’s departure, will be able to muster all the necessary financing.
Von der Leyen said the Commission’s own policy goals would not change as a result of Poland’s reluctance to sign on to the new objective. And she and Michel noted that Poland was unwilling to go along in large part because it has a much steeper road to climb in going green.
Michel, however, appeared to have set aside a plan to hold a special summit on the budget in February.
“I accept totally that it is necessary for Poland also to have a closer look at our proposal of the Just Transition Fund,” von der Leyen said. “So it is acceptable for a country that has to come a long way and that has regions that are really coal dependent — so we acknowledge that the transition is a big one for Poland, the country has to step up, that it needs more time to go through the details.”
The Council’s murky decision came after a protracted, at times tortured, debate that played out in fits and starts over the course of roughly 10 hours. The climate targets were the first item on Thursday’s agenda and, it turned out, the last as well.
Michel interrupted the discussion multiple times to deal with other business, including to approve plans for a two-year-long Conference on the Future of Europe, and to take a group photograph.
The debate, in which the three hold-outs continued to hold out, resumed over a dinner of roast langoustines and chicken supreme, then paused again — to agree to push ahead with negotiations over the EU’s next long-term budget; to extend economic sanctions against Russia; and to express support for Greece and Cyprus in a dispute with Turkey over territorial waters.
Things finally wrapped up shortly before 1 a.m., with the anti-climactic climate decision.
“Of course we have to wait for the final result, but then we will congratulate the winner of the election” — Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Beyond the climate issue, Michel said that EU leaders were committed to moving forward with their negotiations on the bloc’s new long-term budget, the seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework, but said it would be a tough debate.
“Probably the most difficult budget ever in EU history because of the Brexit gap,” Michel said. “It means necessarily that certain member states will have to contribute more and certain other member states will have to receive less than they do.”
Michel, however, appeared to have set aside a plan to hold a special summit on the budget in February. There was no mention of it at his press conference or in the leaders’ written conclusions.
In a twist, the easiest question for Michel and von der Leyen to answer was about the U.K. election, in which, according to exit polls, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party appeared to win a majority that will allow Brexit to go forward.
Brexit is on the leaders’ agenda for the second day of the summit on Friday.
“We will wait and we will see what will be the official results. But there is a strong message that I think we will give tomorrow … We are ready. We are ready for the next steps,” Michel said. “We will see if it is possible for the British parliament to accept the Withdrawal Agreement, and to take a decision. And if it is the case, we are ready for the next steps.”
Von der Leyen added, “Of course we have to wait for the final result, but then we will congratulate the winner of the election and show our respect to all those who have participated.”