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Climate: UK toes the Brussels line as usual

Thursday, 27th November 2008

The Germans have expressed doubts about it, the Italians have threatened to veto it, much of Eastern Europe is against it but – predictably – the British government has fallen into line behind Brussels on the EU's ludicrous and unachievable scheme to "fight climate change."

Our minister of state for energy and climate change, Mike O'Brien, says: "We do not believe the global economic downturn justifies postponing action on climate change until stability returns. The case for strong and early action remains robust under the current economic situation."

That means the UK is signing up to the plan to reduce European carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, to increase energy efficiency by 20% and to source 20% of power from renewable sources such as wind or solar.

Mr O'Brien says countries such as Germany, Italy and Poland are "doom mongering" when they raise fears that sticking to the unrealistically ambitious plan will further damage European industry and the economy as the world sinks into recession.

That has not stopped German conservative politicians lobbying Chancellor Angela Merkel – one of the prime movers of the scheme – to delay it and reduce its targets. Nor has it changed the determination of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi to reject the plan at an EU summit next month.

The Italian employers' organisation Confindustria believes the plan will cost the country up to €27 billion euros, which is more than double the guesstimate given by the EU Commission has estimated Italy's cost at less than one-half of that amount.

Poland and six other European Union newcomers are also opposed to the scheme, which they say would mean ruinously increased costs for their industries.

Brussels must be delighted to know it can still rely on the British to go along with whatever the Commission wants – and even "improve" on it.

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