EU deal boosts Merkel's standing, tougher tests

Brussels, Mar 10: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has strengthened her reputation as a political force in Europe after brokering an ambitious deal to tackle climate change, but her biggest challenges lie ahead, diplomats say.

Under Germany's presidency, the European Union agreed yesterday to set a binding target of 20 per cent of renewable sources in EU energy consumption by 2020 in a deal which diplomats said looked unlikely until just a few days ago.

Merkel wants the deal to put pressure on other industrialised nations to tackle climate change, but she is likely to face a far tougher battle to convince the United States and emerging nations at the G8 summit in June to act.

Another fight looms later in June when Merkel tries to get EU leaders to agree on a timetable for a new version of the stalled constitution for the bloc. She faces stiff opposition from Poland, the Czech Republic and Britain, among others.

Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform in London thinks Merkel may have found a formula for success.

''People like her, so she gets an agreement and leaves the really hard work to later. That's what we have on energy targets and she may do the same on the constitution,'' said Barysch.

The 27 EU member countries still have to thrash out how to share the burden of the Europe-wide targets for renewable energy, a task even Merkel said would be very difficult.

Summit partipants said yesterday's pact could boost confidence in the EU which has struggled to find direction since French and Dutch voters rejected the planned constitution in referendums in 2005.

''In terms of consequences and decisions, this is the most significant European Council I've participated in,'' European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Merkel, who can appear stern and nervous in front of the media, looked relaxed during the main news conference and giggled at several jokes with Barroso.

Her success in Brussels contrasts with the situation at home where she has struggled to push through reforms due to a coalition deal with the Social Democrats and even opposition from her own conservative Christian Democrats.

No Nonsense

Merkel started her political career after the Berlin Wall fell and made her mark in 2005 when she helped broker a complex deal on the EU budget only a month after taking office.

Her diligence, pragmatism and no-nonsense style are seen by many diplomats as useful qualities for tough negotiations.

''She tries to mediate. Rather than achieve consensus, she manages discourse,'' said Barysch. ''She hasn't got her ego in it.'' With several heavyweight colleagues, like French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, expected to leave office in coming months, Merkel is widely viewed as someone with whom to do business.

However, some diplomats were sceptical about whether Merkel's shine would last through June.

One EU diplomat said while Germany had done a good job on energy, the Commission had done a lot of the leg work in preparing proposals and gauging responses.

''The argument in June (over the constitution) will be very different. That will be more demanding for Chancellor Merkel as there are more fundamental differences,'' said one EU diplomat.

She has set herself a limited goal of outlining a timetable for reviving the charter, which is designed to make the EU's institutions function more efficiently.

As with the energy targets, she can leave the details to a later presidency.

Most diplomats think Merkel will achieve a fudge of sorts but Poland on Friday dealt her a further blow by reiterating its criticism of the voting system, central to a planned charter.

In a sign of the hurdles ahead, German officials acknowledge that a declaration on EU achievements, values and future to be presented later this month will mention neither the word ''constitution'' nor a timetable for institutional reform.

Merkel hopes the ''Berlin Declaration'', to be unveiled at the 50th anniversary of the founding Treaty of Rome, would open the way to talks about the constitution.

Reuters