BRUSSELS, March 9 (Reuters) – Denmark led tough talks
on Friday to try to persuade Poland not to block efforts to push
European Union environmental policy beyond existing targets that
only reach to 2020.

Coal-reliant Poland, worried about possible economic damage
from deeper carbon cuts beyond the EU’s existing goal of a 20
percent emissions reduction by 2020, has said it cannot yet
support increased green policy ambition.

WARSAW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Poland is poised to wield its veto on Friday at a Brussels meeting seeking accord on how to shift to a low carbon economy by 2050 and has written to fellow EU environment ministers, urging them to share its views.

The ministers of the 27-nation bloc are gathering for a regular council meeting, which will not set firm policy, but is scheduled to approve a 2050 road-map, laying out milestones for carbon reductions beyond a set of 2020 policy targets.

BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) – European Union safety
tests on nuclear plants should be completed by around the middle
of the year as time is needed to ensure they are thorough
enough, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.

In comments ahead of the anniversary of the Fukushima
nuclear disaster on March 11, Oettinger said stress tests would
be completed “not later than summer”.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s credibility as a global environmental leader is at risk unless it can mend its policies to meet green goals in reality and not just on paper, the head of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said.

Environmental policy-making attention this week has focused on draft EU law to improve the bloc’s record on energy savings and on efforts to persuade the European Commission to prop up carbon prices, which have lost most of their value on the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

BRUSSELS/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Oil consuming nations have no need to release stockpiles as they do not face a supply crunch, EU officials and the agency for consumers said on Wednesday after Washington announced it may use stocks to stem soaring gasoline prices in an election year.

Oil prices hit a 10-month high last week in dollar terms and an all-time high in euros and British pounds amid fears over a loss of Iranian oil supplies and a Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear installations.

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Members of the European
Parliament backed a set of energy saving proposals on Tuesday,
clearing the way for a possible deal by the end of June on a law
that could boost jobs, household incomes and cut fuel import
bills.

Denmark, holder of the EU presidency, has set as a priority
for its six months in office achieving political agreement to
improve energy efficiency through measures such as building
renovation.

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The EU will respond to
any retaliation over its law imposing carbon charges on all
flights but is working with the United States and the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to find a
solution, a senior Commission official said.

The EU’s requirement that all airlines buy carbon to offset
flights that use the bloc’s airports has stirred threats of an
international trade war, with the potential to disrupt global
air traffic.

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) – European Union
politicians are expected on Tuesday to back action to prop up
the collapsed carbon market, as part of a wider debate on energy
saving, putting pressure on the EU executive to tackle a huge
surplus of pollution permits.

Anticipation of a positive vote in the European Parliament
has helped to drive up EU carbon allowances from a low of less
than 7 euros in December to above 9 euros.

BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The EU forestry and
farming sectors will have to monitor and report from 2013 any
changes to land use that could affect greenhouse gas emissions
as part of the bloc’s measures to curb climate change, under a
draft law seen by Reuters.

The proposal, expected to be published officially next week,
does not go as far as setting firm targets for limiting land-use
change.

BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) – EU nations, under heavy
pressure from Canada, failed on Thursday to agree on a proposal
to label fuel from tar sands as particularly polluting, giving
Ottawa four more months to press its case that the move would
unfairly discriminate against one of its most lucrative exports.

A committee of technical experts was unable to deliver a
decisive vote on the European executive’s proposal to tag oil
sands as more carbon-intensive than other crude sources as part
of its efforts to curb global warming.