MEPs urge EU to engage in self-criticism

摘要

After expressing disappointment over the outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference, during a debate in plenary, on 20 January, MEPs meeting in the Environment Committee (ENVI), on 26 January, not only evaluated the EP delegation's participation in the conference, but also raised questions on the reasons behind the European Union's loss of its international leadership. Vittorio Prodi (S&D, Italy) summed up the situation best: "We realised that we cannot show up at such negotiations with proposals that we know in advance will be unacceptable to our partners". He was referring to the very firm positions presented by Parliament but also to the European positions as a whole, formulated in such a way that they left little room for negotiation. "What was missing," he continued, was "a response to the Bali road map [2007 climate conference - Ed], in other words, an approach based on the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility". The tone is set: in the coming weeks, according to MEPs, there should be a self-criticism exercise - both in Parliament and the other institutions - and a new approach and proposals more in phase with the rest of the world should be developed with a view to the Cancun conference in Mexico in December.