1. NEWEUROPE17th Year, Number 833 - May 10 - 16, 2009, € 3.50 www.neurope.eu
THE EUROPEAN WEEKLY
What else is New(s)?
This Week’s Features
Page 2
ANA/EPA/RALFHIRSCHBERGER
T
wo European Union summits
in Prague went bust last week
when few heads of state - in
yetanotherembarrassmenttotheEU
presidency of the Czech Republic –
came, and those who did, like
German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
woundupwithlittletotalkabout.The
EU reached out to six former Soviet
states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, for a
so-called Eastern Partnership aimed
at wooing them away from the influ-
enceoftheirformerrulersinMoscow,
who didn’t like it. So there was little
interest in the affair as Moldovan
President Vladimir Voronin didn’t
attendanddismissedEUincentivesas
“candy,” while most of the EU heavy-
weights, from French President Nico-
las Sarkozy to British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown stayed away too. So
did Belarussian President Alexander
Lukashenko, who had been invited
despite an appalling lack of human
rightsandpressfreedom.Hisabsence
saved the EU from the spectacle of a
president being shunned at the con-
ference table. The energy summit a
day later turned out just as bad, pro-
ducingonlyadilutedagreementwith
easternEuropeancountriesandmore
chest-thumping supporting the EU’s
hope for the Nabucco pipeline that
would leave Russia out in the cold, a
prospect few energy analysts believe
willhappen.TheEUhasofferednear-
ly600millionEurotothesixcountries
to strengthen political, economic and
energytieswhilehopingtoencourage
democracy - which Lukashenko said
would never happen – and ease EU
visa restrictions, but nobody at this
summit needed one to get in, or out,
whichtheycouldn’tdofastenough.
The EU Summits in the Czech Republic don’t draw the A-list guests
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is welcomed by Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (R) with a kiss on the hand next to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek
at the EU summit on Eastern Partnership in Prague, Czech Republic, May 7, 2009
TellBarroso.eu turns
into success n Page 48
Solving the EU’s recession
isn’t easy n Page 10
POLITICS
Pages 11, 42
No Devils in Prague
INTERVIEW : Yiannis Papathanasiou
Daring to be Different
n Page 36
ARTS & CULTURE
Long jobless lines worry EU
n Page 9
THE UNION
The Geopolitics of Energy
n Page 48
KASSANDRA
Who is really behind RosGas?
Page 43
ENERGY
NE01:NE01 5/9/2009 8:01 PM Page 1

2. NEWEUROPE
May10-16,2009
US President Barack Obama‘s hopes to speed up the produc-
tion of advanced bio-fuels that are less harmful to the environ-
ment to help run the country’s cars, according to a draft rule
issued on May 5 by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
The EPA’s decision, which must be open to public discussion for
60 days, aims to more than triple by 2022 the amount of
renewable fuel produced to power vehicles in the United
States. But the rule also makes clear that the administration is
not placing its hopes on maize-based ethanol, a renewable fuel
pushed by US farmers but which many environmentalists con-
sider nearly as harmful to the environment as petrol.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said maize-based ethanol,
which is already produced in many mid-western US states,
would act as a “bridge” to cleaner bio-fuels, such as cellulosic
ethanol, that are not yet readily available.
Obama also announced some USD 800 million in new funding
for bio-fuels research and the creation of the Biofuels Intera-
gency Working Group, which will coordinate efforts across gov-
ernment departments.
The EPA’s ruling calls for 36 billion gallons (136 billion litres) per
year of bio-fuels to be blended into petrol by 2022, up from 11
billion gallons expected to be produced this year. The decision
mirrors a similar target set by the US Congress in 2007.
Obama administration touts more advanced bio-fuelsCLIMATE
B
iodiversity loss and climate change are now a part of
our lives. Both are rooted in overexploitation of nat-
ural resources. Both require a coherent policy
response. The Syracuse Charter and the Athens Conference
underline the strong political commitment to take action. To
ensure our society and economy have a healthy future, we
need a way to assess our impacts on the natural world. The
European Environment Agency’s European Ecosystem
Assessment (EURECA) responds to that need. Last week was
a turning point for biodiversity policy discussions. Two cru-
cial meetings — the G8 environment meeting in Syracuse,
Italy, and the high-level conference in Athens, Greece,
organised by the European Commission — recognised the
close links between climate change and biodiversity loss
and the fact that neither can be solved without addressing
the other. An integrated approach, aimed at greening our
economy was called for.
“Syracuse and Athens confirm that the political will to
halt biodiversity loss is now here. The solutions must be
embedded across the political sphere from climate change
to the economy. We need to strengthen our knowledge of
what biodiversity means to us, and the services and benefits
we get from the natural world. The EEA will fill some of
today’s gaps in knowledge with EURECA,“ said Professor
McGlade, Executive Director of the EEA. Ecosystems provide
many services to human society, including carbon storage
and climate regulation and water flows. Tackling climate
change means using natural resources sustainably to main-
tain ecosystem services. Numerous countries have launched
greening initiatives with this in mind. And many govern-
ments responding to the current financial crisis have put
greening the economy at the centre of their stimulus pack-
ages.
WHAT IS EURECA?
The EEA launched the EURECA (European Ecosystem
Assessment) initiative to contribute to the follow-up process
of the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. EURECA will
address the stocks, flows and value of selected ecosystem
goods and services using a variety of policy-relevant scenar-
ios. The EEA will deliver the first assessments in 2011, with
more following in subsequent years. EURECA will give par-
ticular attention to improving our knowledge of how ecosys-
tems function, the services they provide, involving stake-
holders and developing tools for political decision-making
in Europe. It will provide a platform for people to exchange
knowledge and bring national assessments together at a
European level.
EURECA TIMELINE
The first phase of EURECA was completed at the end of
2008. There will be regular updates of the EURECA findings
throughout 2009–2013. The aim will be to support and
influence a range of important international processes.
Building on the SEBI (Streamlining European Biodiversity
Indicators) work assessing the 2010 biodiversity target at
Convention of Biological Diversity COP10 and the setting of
new European targets, EURECA will contribute to the follow-
up to the global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and ‘Rio
+20’ in 2012.
Specifically for the EU, EURECA will contribute to the
review of the 6th Environment Action Programme and
progress reports on the implementation of the EU Biodiver-
sity Action Plan, together with the SEBI indicators.
EURECA’s long-term perspective and flexible approach
will allow updates on the state of Europe’s ecosystems to be
fed into the European Union’s dynamic policy agenda, which
will face many new challenges in the coming years, includ-
ing globalisation, climate change, migration, security of nat-
ural resources and demographic changes.
KonstantineAlexanderMentelopoulosistheAmbassadoroftheEUNatura2000
NetworkingProgramforexemplaryenvironmentalmanagementofanEUSpecial
Protection Area. He is currently working for the establishment of a Marine Pro-
tected Area in the Northern Cyclades group of islands in Greece
ANA/EPA/CARLOSDESAA
A view of several specimen of Jandia Spurge in Jandia’s nature reserve in Fuerteventura island,
Canary Island, southwestern Spain. Fuerteventura is one of places containing major biodiversi-
ty in Europe
ECOLOGY
Biodiversity loss and climate change:
the need for an ecosystem approach
ENVIRONMENT
Ecosystems provide many services to
human society, including carbon storage
and climate regulation and water flows.
Tackling climate change means using natural
resources sustainably to maintain ecosystem
services
By Konstantinos Alexandros Mentzelopoulos
Konstantinos Alexandros
Mentzelopoulos
NE41:NE41.qxd 5/7/2009 4:47 PM Page 41