Bush, EU clash on global warming
Summit leaders 'agree to disagree'
06/15/2001
By G. Robert Hillman / The Dallas Morning News
GOTEBORG, Sweden – Leaders of the European Union split deeply with President Bush over his opposition to the Kyoto global warming treaty Thursday, agreeing in their first meeting to do little more than open new channels of discussion.
"We agree to disagree," said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson. "The European Union will stick to the Kyoto protocol and go for a ratification process. The U.S. has chosen another policy."
Bush, EU clash on global warming
• Kyoto Protocol
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Mr. Bush, who also drew thousands of demonstrators protesting his environmental policies and other issues Thursday, has been headed for a showdown with EU leaders since he dismissed the Kyoto accord as unworkable early in his administration.
He offered several new initiatives to pursue global warming research before he left for Europe on Monday, but the 15-member European Union rejected them as not enough.
"We understand the United States is committed to action to deal with climate change, but it's not committed to the sort of action which we think is essential to have the impact on the problem," said Chris Patten, the EU commissioner of external affairs.
Mr. Bush stood his ground, acknowledging that "climate change is a serious issue" that requires a global response but pledging only more cooperation on the technical and scientific issues associated with it.
"I understand the concerns of the people of Europe," he said, noting that many Americans are also concerned about climate change, carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases that can contribute to global warming.
But, he said, the 1997 Kyoto treaty, signed by the Clinton administration but never ratified by the Senate, is not well balanced and does not include China, India and other developing nations. He also contends that the mandate to reduce greenhouse gases in the United States could hurt its economy.
Still, he added, "That doesn't mean we cannot continue to work together – and will work together – on reducing greenhouse gases."
Later, Mr. Persson told reporters he believed that Mr. Bush had "some strong commitment" on climate change but that he had "chosen the wrong policy."
"And I must say," Mr. Persson added, "that I have the impression that he thinks the same thing about Europe."
Trade, other topics
On other issues, Mr. Bush and the EU leaders were more amenable.
They endorsed a new round of international trade talks and pledged continued cooperation to cool the hot spots in the Middle East and the Balkans.
And they pledged a new effort to combat HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, which Mr. Bush mistakenly called a nation, rather than a continent.
"Africa is nation that suffers from incredible disease, and it suffers from poverty as well," Mr. Bush said. "... The only way for Africa to grow and to develop and to provide hope and opportunity for its citizens is for there to be trade between the United States and Africa, between the EU and Africa."
Mr. Bush attended his first U.S.-EU summit on the third day of a five-country swing through Europe. On Friday in Warsaw, Poland, he'll deliver the major address of his trip and outline his vision for Europe in the 21st century.
Offering a preview, the president, who is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time Saturday, said he would praise a new Europe "whole and free" and urge a closer relationship with Russia.
"The Cold War is over, and the mentality that used to grip our two nations during the Cold War must end," Mr. Bush said. "Russia ought not to fear a Europe. Russia ought to welcome an expanded Europe on her border."
He also urged more trade and expansions of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
Mr. Patten, however, was quick to dispute Mr. Bush's "larger vision" of a larger European Union.
"When the United States speaks about the enlargement of NATO, it's speaking itself as a member of that alliance," Mr. Patten told reporters.
"The United States is not a member of the European Union and has not applied to become a member of the European Union. So, its views on the enlargement of the European Union are rather different – the views of partner and friend, rather than somebody who's on the inside track."
Demonstrations
Outside the high-level U.S.-EU meetings, several thousand demonstrators protested Mr. Bush's defense and environmental policies and his staunch support of the death penalty, which is nearly universally banned in Europe.
"Remember Larry Robison," read one large banner, referring to the Texas execution last year of Larry Keith Robison, convicted of killing five Lake Worth residents in 1982.
The execution, when Mr. Bush was governor, drew particular attention because Mr. Robison had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.
At another spot in Goteborg on Thursday, demonstrators dropped their pants in protest. There were also occasional clashes with police in riot gear, some riding horses or using dogs to control the crowds, and at least 200 protesters were arrested.
But there was little of the widespread violence that erupted during the Seattle world trade talks in 1999 or at the Summit of the Americas this spring in Quebec City.
"Every modern American president has gotten used to the fact that at large summit meetings, protesters are present," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, adding that the president rarely even catches a glimpse of them.
"They really are hard to see from the places where the president travels and goes," Mr. Fleischer said. "He knows they're there, but it's a small presence."
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