EU-US summit to see trade move but no climate deal
Three days before the EU and the US meet to inject new energy into transatlantic relations, it looks likely that the two continents will fail to agree on climate change but transatlantic economic ties will be strengthened.
“The [EU-US] summit will not be a defining moment,” the US ambassador to the EU, C. Boyden Gray, told journalists ahead of the meeting due on 30 April, when asked about the thorny issue of the fight against climate change.
Mr Gray admitted that Washington would not commit itself to any cap on greenhouse gas emissions, while stressing the US’ ultimate condition remains to get emerging economies such as China and India – which he said would be the biggest polluters soon – on board as well. ...
http://euobserver.com/9/23949
Die Bundesregierung scheint unterdessen eingesehen zu haben, dass US Präsident Bush in Sachen Klima allein wenig auszurichten hat solange die letztendliche Entscheidungsgewalt beim US Kongress liegt:
To bring in the EU’s targets and “have those as the result from our trans-Atlantic discussions, I think that’s asking for a bit too much,” Merkel’s top economic adviser Jens Weidmann said, adding that the EU had to bear in mind the political opposition the White House might face on the issue in the Congress. “What we will be looking at in Washington is a first step forward and I think we will see a willingness to engage in debate, which is important at this stage,” he said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4751529.html
