By KUNA,
Paris : At the European Union Summit that starts Thursday afternoon in Brussels, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, over the next two days, will seek to pressure his 26 counterparts for broad measures to tackle global warming and adopt a plan to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2020, diplomats said here.
But the French leader, who currently holds the rotating Presidency of the 27-nation EU, is likely to meet strong opposition to his proposals, despite support from the United Nations and many government and non-government actors.
Sarkozys job is particularly difficult at this time in view of the international economic situation and the high cost involved in cutting back on fossil-fuel use and investing in alternative energy sources.
Poland, Italy and Germany and several Eastern European countries are opposed to the major changes that are needed to reduce carbon emissions, particularly countries that are important coal users.
The EU target of a 20 percent cut in carbon emissions by the year 2020 looks uncertain to be agreed upon, never mind achieved in that time frame.
But a commitment to do so in Brussels during the two-day Brussels meeting Thursday and Friday would be a major political victory for the EU Presidency, which because of the distraction of the financial crisis has had little to show for its six-month term.
If no agreement is reached on climate measures, Sarkozy is threatening to call an extraordinary summit meeting before the end of the year during the ongoing French Presidency of the EU which ends December 31.
He has recently travelled to Europes largest coal producer and user, Poland, to try to hammer out a deal to reduce this commodity in energy generation as it is the most carbon-generating of all fossil fuels.
Almost all of Polands power is generated by coal and it says the proposed measures put forward by the French EU Presidency and the EU Commission would harm its economy, especially given the current economic climate.
Other Eastern European nations that use coal support Polands view, as does economic powerhouse Germany and Italy, both of which cite the high cost of the climate initiative.
But proponents of the EU measures on the climate problem say that the restructuring of the international economic system would give an ideal opportunity to innovate in the energy sector and provide new jobs in alternative energy production and would provide a boost to investment in industry and new technology. Those in favour of climate measures also warn of dire consequences of not doing something now, as global warming is advancing at an alarming pace, with the potential for widespread effects on the worlds ice caps, an increase in flooding and droughts and more unpredictable and often violent, destructive weather patterns across the globe.
The Brussels summit is also to review the overall economic picture in the EU and worldwide and discuss initiatives taken recently to pump in around USD250 billion into the 27 economies to help tackle the growing recession in EU nations.