GDANSK (AFP) - The leaders of France and Poland began talks Saturday in an attempt to iron out differences over Europe's troubled climate pact, set to be adopted next week by the 27-member European Union.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also presides over the EU until the end of the year, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met in the Baltic coastal city of Gdansk.
The two leaders were later due to be joined by the prime ministers of eight ex-communist states which have baulked at adopting the EU climate change package fearing the impact it might have on their economies.
"We have to find the right path to a compromise. If we cannot, by the end of the luncheon, reach an agreement, then the night of Dec. 11 will probably be very long," said a member of the French delegation.
The EU hopes to seal a deal on its climate package during a summit of bloc leaders in Brussels on Dec. 11-12, that would then be voted on by the EU parliament before the end of the year.
As the Gdansk talks got underway, 10,000 delegates from 192 nations were locked in United Nations climate change negotiations - set to end Dec. 12 - some 185 miles to the south in the city of Poznan.
Participants in the UN meeting, tasked with forging a new global climate accord to take effect after current Kyoto Protocol commitments expire in 2012, are watching to see how the EU talks unfold.
If Europe can prevent its climate plan from unravelling, it would send a strong signal to other nations, negotiators in Poznan and Gdansk said.
"Even if they make an announcement before the end of the conference (in Poznan), it would really be good news," said one expert at the UN forum.
"It might not change the course of the negotiations, but it would certainly change the general mood."
Europe has set a triple "20" objective for 2020: slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990, increasing renewable energy's share of the market to 20%, and improving energy efficiency by 20%.
The EU climate-energy plan, covering the period 2013-2020, would replace its current system of trading carbon pollution quotas, and could become a model for a global scheme.
The main sticking point has been over how the pollution permits will be allocated.
Poland and other EU newcomers have opposed the original proposal to begin full auctioning of CO2 emission quotas for industry in 2013, arguing it would see energy prices skyrocket and growth in their emerging economies nosedive.
Relying on CO2-intensive coal-fired plants for 94% of its electricity, Poland threatened to veto the entire EU environmental package if a compromise on the cost of CO2 emission quotas is not found.
The ex-Soviet bloc countries have said they need a substantially longer transition period before switching entirely to the auction system.
The other eight nations taking part in the Gdansk meeting are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia.
Green groups watching from the sidelines are worried that Sarkozy will cede too much in order to insure that an EU climate deal is sealed.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 06, 2008 10:37 ET (15:37 GMT)

Publié le 06 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones