French presidency heads for knotty EU climate deal

By Muriel Boselli - Analysis

PARIS (Reuters) - France has no option but to try to push through ambitious measures to fight climate change during its European Union presidency from July ahead of thorny global talks for a post-Kyoto deal at the end of 2009.

It hopes to step up solidarity among member states on energy security during its six-month stint at the head of the EU.

"The French presidency will place absolute priority on climate and energy," French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said at the energy council last week.

The EU presented in January draft reforms to the bloc's energy sector, to implement ambitious measures to fight climate change agreed by EU leaders last year.

That 2007 landmark package set binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth and consume 20 percent of all energy from renewable sources by 2020, but EU lawmakers and 27 governments must still back draft directives to implement it.

There is an urgent need for a deal to be clinched under the French presidency if the EU wants to be the kingmaker of any global climate change deal by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.

"Europe (must) stay the course, have confidence in the judgments we made last year and deliver upon them," said John Ashton, climate change representative at Britain's foreign ministry, referring to "fragile" consensus in the light of a global economic slowdown and soaring energy costs.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?