The EU has delivered three post-Copenhagen climate papers this year. The first one was a set of recommendations by the European Commission and it was followed by real decisions, first by the environment ministers and later also a few paragraphs from the heads of state.
All three papers follow the same step-by-step narrative of the EU’s next steps after Copenhagen.
* Confirm the EU’s commitment to a legally binding outcome
* Confirm the EU’s commitment to the UN process
* Confirm the EU’s commitment to the two negotiation tracks
* Stress the importance of quick implementation of the Copenhagen Accord
* The ‘political guidance’ of the Accord must be integrated into the negotiation texts.