The Minister for the Environment has expressed disappointment at the failure of EU Finance Ministers to agree on a key climate change package that will set up Europe's negotiating stance at the forthcoming summit in Copenhagen.
John Gormley, who is in Luxembourg in advance of further talks among environment ministers today, said while it was very regrettable that agreement on a package could not be reached, it was inevitable that there would be tensions between accession countries and more established member states.
The issue of EU funding has now been passed up to the meeting of EU heads of government at a meeting in Brussels next week.
With just 50 days to go before the key gathering in the Danish capital, the global platform for a successor to the Kyoto agreement, there is increasing diplomatic activity surrounding what Europe will agree in terms of reducing its own carbon emissions and how much it is prepared to spend to help poorer countries cope with climate change.
