Leaders target climate and single market at summit

EU leaders are expected to sign up to an ambitious package of measures to tackle climate change and boost the internal market when they meet for their annual economic summit next week (8-9 March).

They will also stress the importance of social protection in the EU with an emphasis on fighting poverty and preventing social exclusion.

The summit’s main focus will be on economic issues although there will be a brief discussion over dinner on the first day of the summit on the Berlin Declaration on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.

Leaders are expected to support calls for a 30% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 provided that developed countries pledge comparable reductions of emissions and advanced developing countries contribute "according to their responsibilities and respective capabilities". The 30% target also depends on a "global and comprehensive agreement" post-2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol on climate change expires.

According to draft conclusions for the summit, leaders will probably sign up to a 20% voluntary target for the share of renewable energy sources in overall consumption although the German presidency is expected to make another bid to convince other governments to make the figure binding. They will endorse a 10% binding target for the share of biofuels in the consumption of energy in transport.

Following the outcome of the meeting of energy ministers on 15 February, the draft conclusions for the summit refer to the need for effective unbundling of generation and transmission activity in the energy sector but without referring to ownership unbundling or an independent system operator as favoured options.

Leaders are also expected to stress the importance of strengthening the confidence of consumers and business in the internal market and to urge the European Commission to complete its planned review of the single market in the second half of this year. The conclusions emphasise the importance of the recent agreement on liberalisation of the services sector, the need to create a single payment area and further liberalise postal markets as well as get a deal by June on cutting the cost of roaming, or making calls from mobile phones while abroad.

The summit will sign up to a new target of cutting the implementation deficit for single market legislation to 1% by 2009.

Leaders will back a plan for a new transatlantic economic partnership to be endorsed at the EU-US summit on 30 April. This will focus on improving regulatory convergence and co-ordinating efforts to protect intellectual property rights.

The summit will also aim to take a decision on setting up the planned European Institute of Technology by the end of 2007.

On better regulation, leaders will back the Commission’s plan to cut the regulatory burden of EU legislation by 25% by 2012, a move which is estimated to generate a one-off saving to businesses of €1.2 billion. But governments are reluctant to sign up to the same level of ambition for their own regulations and are only prepared to present action plans for cutting national red tape in 2008.

At the summit leaders also intend to "highlight the importance of the social dimension for the EU" in order to ensure the "continuing support of European integration by the Union’s citizens". A section on modernising the European social model stresses the importance of "good work" and the principles of "workers’ rights and participation, equal opportunities, safety and health protection at work, family-friendly organisation of work and making work pay". It also emphasises the need to fight poverty and social exclusion.

EU foreign ministers will discuss Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East as well as the situation in Somalia and Darfur.

EU leaders are expected to sign up to an ambitious package of measures to tackle climate change and boost the internal market when they meet for their annual economic summit next week (8-9 March).