BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday unveils its climate targets for 2040 and a roadmap for the next stage of its energy transition, with the bloc reeling from a farmer revolt against green reforms just months before European elections.
In a sign of how politically fraught the issue has become, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen gave key ground to the farmer movement on Tuesday by deciding to bury a plan to halve chemical pesticide use by the end of this decade.
The commission's original proposal "has become a symbol of polarisation", she acknowledged to the European Parliament.
The concession, made hours before the 2040 climate announcement, came as farmers converged outside the parliament building in another protest over shrinking incomes and rising production costs.
The 27-nation European Union has already committed to a 55-per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, as it seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.
For the next milestone, 2040, working documents suggest the European Commission will aim for a drop of 90 per cent, compared to 1990 levels.
But this time Brussels has to factor in growing discontent -- illustrated by the snowballing farmer protests of recent weeks -- over the social and economic impact of its much-vaunted Green Deal.
Far-right and anti-establishment parties have latched onto the farmers' movement and are predicted to make big gains in June elections to choose the members of the next EU assembly.
That vote will also lead to a new commission late this year. Von der Leyen has not yet said whether she intends to seek a new mandate at its helm.
Striking that balance is at the heart of a joint letter to Brussels, sent by 11 states including France, Germany and Spain, and seen by reporters.
Together they urge the commission to set an "ambitious EU climate target" for 2040.
The targets laid out on Tuesday will be a simple recommendation.
They will be accompanied by new post-2030 climate projections the commission was required to produce within six months of December's UN climate negotiations (COP28).
The next European Commission will be tasked with turning the outline into proposed legislation ahead of next year's international climate summit (COP30).
The bloc's 2040 targets are expected to rely in part on the capture and storage of ambitious volumes of carbon dioxide -- incensing climate campaigners who criticise the technologies as untested and want to see gross emissions-cut pledges instead. — AFP
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