Environment ministers for the 27-nation bloc met in Brussels with the clock ticking down on a UN deadline to produce an official pledge to fight global warming for 2035.
The countries have not been able to agree on their level of ambition, so they settled for a compromise "statement of intent" to cut emissions between 66.25 percent and 72.5 percent compared to 1990 levels.
"It's very positive that member states have been able to reach a consensus," Lars Aagaard, climate minister of Denmark, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, told a press conference.
The EU "is and will remain a global climate leader", he said.
The EU -- behind only China, the United States and India in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions -- has been by far the most committed of the major polluters to climate action.
The bloc was hoping to come up with an ambitious submission to November's COP30 climate conference but months of negotiations failed to produce an agreement, leaving Brussels scrambling for a last-minute solution.
The UN has pushed for world leaders, among them EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, to announce their commitments at the General Assembly in New York next week.
Denmark suggested a "statement of intent" with a target range rather than a hard goal backed by a detailed plan -- a majority of states eventually getting on board on Thursday after a long day of talks in Brussels.
- 'Consolation prize' -
"This statement of intent allows the EU to show up in New York with something tangible and avoid complete embarrassment," said Jens Mattias Clausen of Concito, a Danish think-tank.
Like most other parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the EU had already missed a February deadline to provide a 2035 emissions reduction target and a detailed blueprint for achieving it.
The deadline was extended to September -- still allowing plans to be assessed before COP30 starts on November 10, in the Brazilian city of Belem.
As the statement of intent does not count as the official EU submission, the bloc is all but sure to also miss the second deadline.
"The statement of intent is a hard-fought consolation prize," said Linda Kalcher, director of the Strategic Perspectives think tank.
The bloc was still aiming to file its official pledge ahead of COP30, said the European Council, the EU body that represents states.
The deal "allows us to confidently walk into New York next week", Wopke Hoekstra, the European Commissioner for Climate, told reporters.
He described the target range as "ambitious" and "clearly in line with the Paris Agreement".
- Divisions -
The EU has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and says it has already cut emissions by 37 percent compared to 1990.
But climate has increasingly taken a backseat in Brussels, as global trade tensions and the war in Ukraine have shifted focus to defence and industry.
Thomas Gelin of Greenpeace said Thursday's compromise showed the bloc was "abdicating the role of climate leader".
"The EU is more concerned with making the continent 'competitive' than keeping it liveable," he said.
The deal reflects discord among the 27 over the bloc's green agenda.
Denmark and Spain are among countries pushing for Brussels to stick to a related European Commission proposal to cut emissions by 90 percent by 2040 on the way to net-zero a decade later.
But others, like Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, think it over-ambitious and detrimental to industry.
"Our analysis shows we can do at great expense, 83 percent of reductions by 2040," Polish climate official Krzysztof Bolesta said ahead of the talks, adding his government wanted an exemption for defence production.
France, which is suffering from shaky finances and a prolonged political crisis, wants more clarity on the investment framework to support decarbonisation before committing.
Last week Paris and Berlin called for a decision on 2040 targets to be discussed at a leaders' summit in October -- effectively pushing back a decision that the commission had hoped could have been reached Thursday.
Wopke Hoekstra, driving EU climate policy as bloc hits brakes
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Sept 18, 2025 -
In two years steering EU climate policy, Wopke Hoekstra has gone some way to winning over green advocates wary of his corporate background. His challenge now is pursuing the bloc's goals as the wind shifts against climate action.
The 49-year-old commissioner for climate will speak for the 27-nation bloc at November's COP30 UN conference in Brazil. It is not yet clear what his message will be.
The EU has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050 and as a milestone wants a 90-percent emissions cut by 2040 -- a target it hoped to lock in before COP30 as a signal of its climate leadership among world powers.
But talks have stalled between divided member states -- with the bloc now seeking agreement only on an emissions range for 2035, as a face-saving offering for the UN talks.
In an interview with AFP, Hoekstra played down the delay.
"Everyone outside of Europe knows perfectly well that we continue to be amongst the most ambitious in terms of climate action," he said.
"I am positive that by then (COP30) we will certainly have an ambitious target that Europe can take to the international stage," he added.
- Stint at Shell -
Standing close to two metres tall, the Dutch former minister -- first finance, then foreign affairs -- is among the higher-profile members of a commission team dominated by its boss, Ursula von der Leyen.
Environmental groups and left-wing lawmakers were initially hostile to his appointment as climate chief, during von der Leyen's term in 2023, seeing his years as a business consultant and a stint at oil giant Shell as disqualifying.
Hoekstra acknowledges his critics -- and points to his achievements in the role to set the record straight.
"I was for roughly three years with Shell, until 2004," he told AFP. "That is not exactly the Stone Age, but it has been a while ago, right?"
"Frankly speaking, I do think I have shown... that I do try to move the needle in the domain of climate action," he said.
In the words of a former associate within the EU commission, speaking on condition of anonymity, "he had 'Shell' written all over him when he first arrived."
"But he dug into the subject matter and did a good job," they said.
In his first round of UN climate talks, in Dubai in 2023, the EU was seen as playing a pivotal role in pushing other countries towards phasing out fossil fuels -- observers recalled Hoekstra speeding between meetings to get talks moving, in dark suit and running shoes.
- 'Pragmatic' approach -
Hailing from the centre-right, Hoekstra cut his political teeth navigating tough coalition negotiations in his native Netherlands.
In the EU parliament -- which has to sign off on the bloc's laws -- he is seen as solid on policy and keen to "build bridges along the political spectrum", in the words of one insider.
"Lawmakers were pretty relieved to see him return as commissioner in 2024," the official said.
After five years pushing a bold environmental agenda, however, the European Commission has had to adjust course since the bloc's parliament swung right last year.
In step with many European capitals, Brussels has shifted its focus to defence and competitiveness and moved to delay or roll back swathes of its own green regulations.
On climate, Hoekstra says the bloc's ambition is intact -- but that a "pragmatic" new approach is needed to keep the public onside.
"In the past we have been too one-dimensional by only focusing on how to advance climate goals," he told AFP.
"We need to make sure we bridge, we marry the domains of climate, of business, and also of strategic autonomy."
These past weeks Hoekstra criss-crossed Europe's capitals to try to broker a compromise on the 2040 target -- but with little to show for it so far.
For Neil Makaroff, of the Strategic Perspectives think tank, he could have played his cards better by putting forward the commission's proposal for 2040 -- a 90-percent cut with "flexibilities" worked in -- earlier than July.
In particular, Makaroff said, Hoekstra should have started negotiating much sooner with Paris -- whose reluctance to commit to the target is now proving a key hurdle.
"We wasted time," said Makaroff. "Now we risk ending up with our back to the wall in the final stretch" with the possibility of showing up empty-handed to the UN talks in Brazil.
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