EU countries agree to reduce emissions 55%

European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal Friday to cut the bloc's net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by the end of the decade compared with 1990 levels, avoiding a hugely embarrassing deadlock ahead of a U.N. climate meeting this weekend.

Following night-long discussions at their two-day summit in Brussels, the 27 member states approved the E.U. executive commission's proposal to toughen the bloc's intermediate target on the way to climate neutrality by mid-century, after a group of reluctant, coal-reliant countries finally agreed to support the improved goal.

"Europe is the leader in the fight against climate change," tweeted E.U. Council president Charles Michel as daylight broke over the E.U. capital city. "We decided to cut our greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55% by 2030."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the 21-hour summit during which the climate debate was a constant worry had much to show for it. "It was worth having a sleepless night," she said.

Five years after the Paris agreement, the E.U. wants to be a leader in the fight against global warming. Yet, the bloc's leaders could not agree on the new target the last time they met in October, mainly because of financial concerns by eastern nations seeking more clarity about how to fund and handle the green transition.