There is a new odd couple at the centre of the EU – Gabriel and Glos. You often have to pinch yourself to recall that Sigmar Gabriel and Michael Glos are members of the same government – Germany.

Gabriel is the up-and-coming environment minister from the centre-left Social Democratic party. Glos is the Christian Social - for which read Christian Democrat - economics minister from Bavaria,  a conservative heartland and one of the richest areas of Europe. He wants it to stay that way. So he has no time for eco-warriors wanting to dent its way of life. The two are strange bedfellows in a grand coalition government and Tuesday once again proved why.

Glos told an audience in Berlin that he was considering legal action against the European Commission for asking Germany to cut its proposed cap on greenhouse gas emissions from 2008-12. Asked over a lunch with journalists whether that was a good idea, Gabriel said: “No.”

It might not look good for the image of a country running the G8 and EU with a pledge to fight climate change to gripe about it, he said.

Glos has also called for a rethink on a German government commitment to phase out nuclear power. It would be impossible to hit emissions targets without nuclear, he said. Gabriel dismissed that yesterday. “It is the same people coming up with a different argument for nuclear power every time. Five years ago it was employment. Last year it was the price of electricity. Now it is climate change. It is five per cent of our energy. I am worried about the other 95 per cent.”

This would all be great fun if Germany were not running the EU for six months. It is hard enough listening to 27 member states and 16 German lander without a hydra-headed presidency too. Gabriel jokes: “All governments have these debates. We just have ours in the open. It’s very transparent.”

Asked which of the dynamic duo confused correspondents should listen too, he said it helped that their nominal boss, chancellor Angela Merkel, had been environment minister. But it is surely time for "Angie" to put her  foot down and stop the bickering. It is good copy for journalists but baffled eurocrats are pleading with the Iron Lady to live up to her nickname.

January 23rd, 2007 in Environment | Permalink