EU Agrees To Ratify Kyoto Treaty

European Union environment ministers agreed Monday to press for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but have not yet set limits on pollution emission levels to meet the accord's standards.

The 15 EU ministers hoped their action would prod other nations that signed the accord, such as the United States, to ratify it before a U.N.-sponsored summit on sustainable development in August in South Africa.

"The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change...is hereby approved on behalf of the European Community," said a formal text agreed by EU environment ministers meeting in Brussels.

"This means that the EU will complete the ratification (of the Kyoto treaty) by June 1," said European Commission spokeswoman for environmental affairs Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen after EU environment ministers agreed to ratify the pact.

In a draft statement, the EU ministers agreed to set the new emission cuts "at the latest"' before Dec. 31, 2006, when the global accord is to go into effect.

The EU's Executive Commission would determine emissions levels for each member state, the ministers said. EU governments would then approve the target levels.

The Kyoto deal commits the world's economic powers to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent from their 1990 levels. The EU ministers said they plan to cut emissions by 8 percent.

To take effect, the accord must be ratified by 55 countries, including industrialized countries representing at least 55 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

President George W. Bush's administration pulled the United States out of the accord last year, saying it would be too harmful to its economy. Now nearly every other industrialized country must ratify the accord, but so far only Mexico and Romania have done so.

The EU has pledged to reduce emissions by 8 percent by 2012 through legislation to promote cleaner energy and shift traffic to less polluting transportation such as rail or water.

The majority of the phased-in emissions cuts will have to come from large industrial and energy plants.

"The EU decision ... is a historic benchmark toward its entry into force," said Michel Raquet from the environmental group Greenpeace. He added that the EU should press the United States to join the pact.

"After President Bush slammed the door on the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001, and the very bad joke of the Bush-Exxon climate plan last month, it is now time for the USA to come back to the Kyoto Protocol."

EU ministers also held a public debate on a proposal to introduce EU-wide rules to make polluters pay for the mess they make. A decision is not expected for months.

It would set common rules on making sure that polluters are held liable for any environmental damage, which includes damage to water, soil and animal habitats.

Several ministers criticized the proposal for not including damage to human health or including nuclear plants.

Industry fears the rules could cost them billions of euros in liability insurance, forcing them to move out of the EU.