Fast-start funding and the final preparations ahead of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen were the two major issues on the first day of the EU summit.

“Next week, more than 110 heads of state and government will be meeting in Copenhagen. We are still committed to our October mandate. The EU will raise the level of emission reductions to 30 per cent by 2020, provided other parts of the world undertake the same commitment. Our offer is thus conditional. The EU is only responsible for 13 per cent of global emissions, so we cannot solve these issues by ourselves. A global response is required", said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at the press conference on Thursday evening.

Joint mandate

The EU heads of state and government agreed on a joint negotiating mandate ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in October this year. It was then established that the sum of EUR 100 billion was required annually over the next ten years to fund the climate change adaption of developing countries. The money is to come from the developing countries' own investments, the international carbon dioxide market and international public funding. International public funding should amount to approximately EUR 22-50 billion and the EU should contribute with its fair share. EU leaders also agreed that the developing countries need an extra economic injection to the amount of EUR 5-7 billion annually between 2010-2012 in what is known as ‘fast start funding'. It was decided that any contributions to that sum should be voluntary.

Many EU countries were sceptical about spending money on this type of financial support in the midst of an economic and financial crisis but still supported the conclusions from the October meeting. Since then, internal consultations on how large a part of the fast-start funding each EU country is prepared to contribute with have been taking place. Japan has already placed its bid and the USA are likely to follow suit in the near future. And now the EU's internal negotiations will continue throughout the night. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is counting on a number being presented in the morning, when the summit continues.

“We will work throughout the night to get everything into place. There will always be differences between 27 independent states. But I believe that we will have come up with a better number in the morning than we did tonight when it comes to money for adaption measures. During dinner, there was an atmosphere of clear consensus on the need for European leadership when it comes to the conclusion in Copenhagen. That is why discussions will continue"; said Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Finance issues and the future of the EU

The economic and financial crisis was also discussed at the summit. The EU countries have worked hard to take the Union out of the economic and financial crisis. Discussions at the summit emphasised the importance of establishing a new system for supervision of the financial markets, which was agreed on by the EU's finance ministers last week. The European Council also discussed the effects of the supportive measures introduced during the crisis and the establishment of exit strategies, which means the phasing out of these supportive measures.

At the end of the year the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs will expire and a new EU 2020 strategy, aiming at strengthening the EU's global competitiveness, has to be established. Discussions on the details surrounding the strategy will continue under the Spanish Presidency next year.