Update: Climate change, unity on Sibiu summit agenda
The informal meeting of EU 27 leaders, which takes place Thursday, May 9, in the central Romania city of Sibiu, will occasion discussions on a host of topics, including a debate over the Union’s part in fighting climate change.
Eight countries have issued a paper ahead of the Sibiu summit asking the Union to “commit to phasing out carbon emissions by 2050 and dedicating 25% of the EU’s next long-term budget to projects fighting climate change,” Forbes reported.
The eight countries are France, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.
The issue is to be voted on at an EU summit in June but the eight countries want the EU leaders to agree to the 2050 target earlier, at the Sibiu meeting, Forbes wrote.
The same paper argues in favor of the Union integrating its fragmented energy market.
“Over the past two years we have made progress on projects concerning defense, a social Europe that is better integrated for everyone, and I see three important points at this summit. The environment – we need to obtain a commitment regarding zero carbon emissions by 2050, it is an essential commitment. The second point is the protection of Europe’s borders, we need to protect the Schengen area; a third point is fighting for a European growth model from an economic and social point of view, we need to focus on how digital civilization will progress and find a better way to integrate Europeans,” he said, quoted by News.ro.
In her turn, German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke before the summit about finding the “shared future.” “Even if we have different options, we will look for a shared future. We want to take measures to preserve security, welfare, but we are also interested in preserving European values and promoting them outside of the European Union,” she said, News.ro reported.
The Sibiu meeting could also bring informal discussions about the appointment of new names to key EU positions which will need to be filled after the EU Parliament elections this May, Reuters reported. These include the head of the European Council, of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Central Bank.
A reform of the Lisbon Treaty, as suggested by Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, could also be on the agenda, Gandul reported quoting Handelsblatt. Kurtz pleaded for stricter rules covering violations of the rule of law or sanctions for not following the rules concerning the budget deficit in the Eurozone. Kurz also argued in favor of additional measures to fight climate change, both at an EU and world level.
Migration and the EU budget will also be on the agenda, among a host of other issues outlined by European Council president Donald Tusk in the draft agenda issued ahead of the summit.
In the formal invitation extended to EU leaders to take part in the summit, Tusk also proposed the adoption of a Sibiu Declaration, which is meant to send a “message of unity and confidence in our joint actions.”
Speaking before the summit, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis (pictured), a native of Sibiu and former mayor of the city, stressed a similar point.
“The feeling of uncertainty can be overcome only if the EU acts jointly and European leadership sends a clear message it is committed to continue European integration,” Iohannis said, quoted by Radio Free Europe.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who called the Sibiu summit in his 2017 State of the Union address, European Council president Donald Tusk and European Parliament president Antonio Tajani are attending the event, alongside EU heads of state and government, including French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the president of the Spanish government Pedro Sánchez, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, and Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov.
