Key diary dates
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Tuesday 16 September: General Affairs Council: EU ministers to discuss European Council agenda and annual rule of law dialogue.
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Thursday 18 September: Environment Council to seek agreement (‘general approach’) on a proposal to amend the European climate law to establish a binding intermediate climate target for 2040.
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Friday 19 - Saturday 20 September: Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers in Copenhagen.
In spotlight
Delay to the 2040 EU climate emissions target decision is a challenge not only to the Danish EU presidency but also to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Danes had hoped to push the decision through an environment ministers Council in Brussels this Thursday.
The Commission proposed a 90% emissions reduction target for 2040, compared to 1990 levels, back in July.
But member states including France and Germany have successfully pushed for the issue to be deferred for agreement by EU heads of state during the October summit.
The issue is a key battleground over the future of von der Leyen’s Green Deal, touted as a key achievement of her first mandate, but downplayed following last year’s European Parliament elections saw a swing to the right and renewed focus on competitiveness.
Last week’s State of the Union address highlighted von der Leyen’s precarious position in the Parliament as she attempts to keep the main centrist bloc of support on side.
She stated that she wanted to stay on course with her environmental objectives and achieve a climate-neutral economy by 2050 in a rare reference to the Green Deal.
But her words will be tested at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November, where member states and the Commission will be expected to submit the bloc’s obligations under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to come up with commitments on carbon reductions for the next decade.
Delay and dilution will embolden those in the Parliament on the left and green wings: the Left group submitted a no-confidence motion in the Commission last week.
But with another no-confidence motion arriving from the right flank, von der Leyen is increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Policy newsmakers
EU chases down India trade deal with wrangling over food
Late insertion of food and farm issues on the agenda of an EU delegation in New Delhi last week suggested the talks on a future trade deal between the pair are now very advanced, sources told Euronews. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen (left) joined Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (right) in New Delhi “to represent the agricultural aspects and defend EU farmers’ interests”.
Policy Poll
Data brief - Opinion on EU-US trade deal
