European Union leaders have backed ambitious goals to fight climate change but stressed that they must be affordable at a time of economic downturn.
In a statement issued at the conclusion of a two-day summit in Brussels, the leaders pledged to finalize by next year their strategy for a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. But they stressed that the project should not impose excessive costs on EU member states.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, called the package a key document that will allow EU countries to adopt future technologies.
The leaders also approved a compromise version of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal for a new Mediterranean trading bloc that would involve all EU members in efforts to build ties with North African and Middle Eastern countries.
The French leader won the support of his EU colleagues after accepting changes that eased Germany's concerns that the proposal would undermine EU unity.
Source: By VOA News
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