Sarkozy sticks to EU climate deadline in crisis

By Pete Harrison

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders stuck to ambitious targets for tackling climate change on Wednesday, despite Italy and a group of eastern European nations calling for caution during the economic crisis.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the bloc's rotating presidency, voiced his determination to meet a December deadline for clinching agreement on a package of laws to combat global warming and promote renewable energy sources.

"I'm not give up either on the objectives or the timetable," Sarkozy told a news conference after chairing what he acknowledged was a tough discussion.

But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk threatened to use his veto unless more was done to shield Poland's coal-based economy from the impact of the measures, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also wielded a veto threat to demand more time and less burden on industry.

Failing banks, plunging stock markets and warnings of recession pushed climate change down the agenda of the two-day summit, but no one challenged the key EU goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

The other targets are to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent through efficiency measures by that date and to derive 20 percent of energy from renewable sources.

The 27-nation bloc aims to lead the world in battling global warming, mindful of U.N. predictions of more extreme weather and rising sea levels.

Eastern European countries and some of Europe's traditional industries say the plan is too costly in light of the crisis, but several EU leaders said that rescuing the economy and the planet could go hand in hand.