At a meeting of Brussels diplomats last week there was a classic split between southern and northern EU members. But northern states that committed themselves to tougher action and greater expense in Geneva are pushing a number of countries, including all the southern ones, to accept tighter limits under the treaty. According to officials who attended the meeting, the Mediterranean countries complained that the cost of the Commission's proposal would be too great and the figures in the draft directive should be replaced by the much less stringent ones in the draft UN multi-pollutant treaty. This was the first time diplomats have had the chance to debate the EU proposal for a national emissions directive. A Commission official remarked that there was still plenty of time for positions to change.
Talks resume next week.