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Friday, March 30, 2001

Margot Wallstrom, the EU's environment commissioner, said she was "extremely concerned and disappointed" and would fly to Washington next week to try to keep the United States involved in the war against greenhouse gas emissions.

Wallstrom hinted at trouble if the U.S. refuses to attend talks due in Bonn in July. She stopped short of threatening to impose EU trade sanctions, but insisted that the U.S. withdrawal from the treaty would distort fair transatlantic competition.

"Why should we put European businesses under such high pressure and let American companies off the hook?" she said. "Why should they play by other rules?

"The EU is willing to discuss details and problems – but not scrap the whole protocol."

Richard Boucher, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said: "Our current plan is to attend that Bonn meeting. So I would expect that we will be working on it before then."

But neither Boucher nor other State Department officials would specify what shape the Bonn talks would take and whether U.S. delegates would insist on negotiating from scratch, without reference to the Kyoto agreement.

The German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, said he would express his concern at yesterday's White House meeting with Bush. But at a press call before the meeting Bush was unrepentant.

"We have an energy shortage. I look forward to explaining this today to the leader of Germany as to why I made the decision I made," he said.

"We'll be working with Germany. We'll be working with our allies to reduce greenhouse gases, but I will not accept a plan that will harm our economy and hurt American workers."

In London, Tony Blair – always vulnerable to EU criticism that he is too close to Washington – was said to want to "engage constructively" with the U.S. and others to try to find a way forward.

A spokesman said: "The prime minister is concerned because, obviously, he believes that climate change is a very serious problem which we need to tackle.

"He believes ... it is important that we reach an agreement to deal with a problem which is global.

"Obviously the next opportunity to do that will be in Bonn in July, and I think he will then personally see President Bush at the G8 summit. But we believe that a way forward is still possible."

EU member states regard Bush's position on global warming as part of a pattern of U.S. withdrawal from multilateral action, citing Washington's stance on landmines, the nuclear test ban treaty, U.N. dues, the international criminal court and other issues.

The U.S. is already at odds with the EU over the "son of star wars" national missile defense scheme, NATO and the European rapid reaction force, hormone-fed beef, genetically modified crops and banana quotas.

European officials had been encouraged by Bush's campaign promise to impose limits on carbon dioxide emissions. But he withdrew that promise earlier this month.

So far none of the larger European countries has ratified the Kyoto protocol. But the EU believes it is the best framework for tackling climate change. It will come into force only when it has been ratified by 55 percent of the industrialized countries that signed it.

"It is possible without the U.S. but it is much more difficult," Wallstrom said. "It's about credibility and political will."

Bush's decision is a particular blow to Sweden, which has made the environment one of the top priorities of its six-month tenure of the EU presidency.

Last weekend's Stockholm summit warned Bush to think again about Kyoto.

In London, the environment minister, Michael Meacher, said Bush's announcement was "exceptionally serious," but he did not think sanctions against the U.S. were the answer.

"The fact is we do have a lot of leverage," he said. "I certainly don't think we should despair or try to ostracize the U.S. as a pariah."

Japan and Pacific island states threatened by rising seas condemned the decision, and the Australian environment minister, Robert Hill, said, "The Kyoto protocol wouldn't work without the United States."

The European parliament's environment committee said in a statement: "Europe must stand up to irresponsible U.S. policies by rejecting them at the petrol pump. Unless the U.S. rethinks its position, direct boycott is the only language they will understand."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001

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