EU level- getting the Kyoto Protocol going

Background: The ratification process in the EU followed two tracks at the same time- in the Member States and on EU level. These were then joined for the final step of depositing the legal instruments with the United Nations. Formal ratification took place collectively as a package of sixteen documents that were handed over on 31st May. See CAN Europe press release (pdf)

Following the official conclusions from the EU Council in Gothenburg last June, the Commission prepared a ratification instrument for the European Community as a Party to the Protocol. The EU has divised an internal burden-sharing agreement under Article 4 KP, which allows the Member States to achieve their eight percent reduction target collectively. The Protocol requires that the terms of this agreement, the redivised targets, have to be submitted with the ratification instrument. The Commission is attaching it as an annex to their ratification proposal. CAN Europe sent a letter to all Commissioners in advance of the adoption of the proposal (read pdf ).

The General Directorate for the Environment sent the proposed instrument, as part of a package of measures, for internal consultations in September. This package was adopted by the Commission on 23rd October. The draft decision (COM(2001) 579) (pdf) on ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is one part of this package. The other two ingredients are 1) the Kyoto Implementation communication, presenting a set of PAMs as the outcome of the European Climate Change Program and 2) a directive establishing an EU-wide Emission Trading system as one of the integral parts of the implementation strategy. The College of Comissioners approved all three on the 24th of October.

Environment Commissioner Wallstroem presented the package to the Council of Environment Ministers on Monday the 29th of October (read conclusions here), which was also 1st day of the Climate Conference in Marrakech (CoP-7). A decision on the package could not be taken by the same council at its December meeting (12-13th December) (read conclusions here), just before the next European Council of EU leaders on the 14th. It was postponed to the subsequent Council on March 4th.

The legal procedure for the ratification instrument requires consultation of the European Parliament, but does not allow for ammendments by the assembly. The Parliament approved the bill in its Environment Committee on 23rd of January (read press release and report ). On February 6th in Strasbourg the EP approved ratification in the plenary by a big majority of 540 out of 554 votes (source). It is now upon Ministers to finalise the process. Environmental NGOs sent a letter to EU Environment Ministers on 25th of February ahead of the Council meeting, urging them to agree ratification of the Protocol then and there. Read pdf version here.

On 4th of March, EU Environment Minister did indeed decide to ratofy Kyoto. Environmental NGOs welcomed this decision - CAN Europe Press release. See also list of news reports.

You can check the status of the document via the Commission's PRELEX database here.

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Member State level - 15 different procedures

The situation at MS level warather diverse. All countries had different processes and requirements, legal as well as political. A table with details of the official requirements is available here. The dates for parliamentary votes and other related events are listed in our ratification calendar.

The status so far:
The conclusion of the Bonn agreement gave national climate policies another boost. Many countries have updated or are finalising their Kyoto implementation plans (Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Sweden) (see CAN Europe implementation pages and Latest News section).

All EU member states completed their domestic processes in time for joint ratification by the EU on the 31st of May, which, in most cases has required approval by the national legislative chambers.

France and Denmark were the first to do so (the latter having to revisit the bill in May 2002), followed by Luxembourg (November 2001) and Portugal (December 2001). After the crucial EU Council in March 2002, a number of countries completed their processes: Sweden (06/03), the Netherlands (19/03), Belgium (20/03), Ireland (23/03), Austria (15/04) and the UK (19/04). The UK was blessed with the shortest procedure of all EU countries, it takes effectively 21 days from announcement to the automatic entry into force. Germany’s government passed its Ministry’s proposal on in December. The Bundestag voted pro ratification in late March with support from all parties. The final reading in the federal chamber took place on the 26th of April (see CAN-E press release ).

In May, the last wave of processes were completed. In Finland the parliamentary phase started in March, the final vote took place on the 8th May, and the presidential signature is scheduled for the 24th. The Spanish Council of Ministers approved ratification on February 1st. Approval by the parliament was granted unanimously on April 11th (see GP Spain press release). As a last step, a vote in the Senate was needed, which itook place on the 8th of May. The Danish Parliemnt had to revisit the government's climate bill after the EU ENvironment Council meeting of 4th of March. On 16th May it approved the decision to ratify once more a big majority.

Greece and Italy were giving the other EU countries a bit of a headache until the very end when they passed ratification through the necessary legislative bodies just days before the the scheduled date for collective submission of the ratification documents to the UN.

Click here for info on non-EU countries.

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