Brussels (Platts)--14Mar2008

EU leaders plan to reach political agreement on the European Commission's
proposed climate protection package by end-2008, Slovenian Prime Minister and
current EU president Janez Jansa told reporters late Thursday.

"It's a very good proposal and I believe that ... we'll be able to
support it [on Friday] by way of council conclusions," Jansa said after the
first day of the European Council in Brussels. Slovenia holds the rotating EU
presidency until end-June.

The EC's package, unveiled January 23, included proposals for binding
2020 targets to have 20% of EU final energy use from renewables, and to cut
greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels. EU leaders had backed these
targets in principle at the March 2007 European Council.

"Given the goals we set ourselves a year ago, we need to take decisions
in order to achieve them," said Jansa. "Only in this way will the EU maintain
its leading role in ... fighting climate change at the global level."

Transparency, economic success and cost-effectiveness were the three main
criteria for assessing the EC's "highly ambitious" proposal, said Jansa.

There was also "a very ambitious timeline" which meant having to agree a
common text with the European Parliament by early 2009 at the latest, he said.

The current EP's term ends mid-2009, but EU leaders also want the package
agreed so that it can be cited in the negotiations for a post-2012 global
climate agreement scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, said Jansa.

EU leaders are to issue formal council conclusions on their discussions
when the meeting ends later Friday.