Brussels (AFP)

European leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for their last summit of the year, with thorny topics on the agenda: EU budget, long-term climate strategy, or relations with the UK after Brexit.

For the first summit of Charles Michel, new boss of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, who will defend the positions of the Commission, the agenda promises difficult discussions on issues that are not unanimous.

The meeting will be held at 27: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not make the move due to early parliamentary elections in the UK.

With a Brexit planned for the end of January and a withdrawal treaty still waiting to be ratified, the result will obviously be scrutinized by the European leaders. Especially as Friday, a debate is planned to determine the priorities of the 27 in the upcoming negotiations on the future relationship with London, especially commercial.

According to draft conclusions seen by AFP, the 27 should invite the Commission to start talks "immediately" after the departure of the British.

On Thursday, European heads of state and government will try to agree on the date of 2050 to set a goal of "carbon neutrality".

This "climate neutrality" consists in reducing CO2 emissions as much as possible and compensating for the rest by means of absorption devices (by soils and forests, by technology).

In June, the EU failed to find unanimous support. Three countries, still very dependent on fossil fuels, in particular coal, resist for fear of a painful energy transition, in particular on the social level: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The debate will be held the day after the presentation of the "Green Pact" of the European Commission, campaign promise of Ursula von der Leyen that will decline in the coming months in multiple legislative proposals.

At the heart of this pact, a "climate law" unique in its kind, promised the German, which would set the goal of 2050 marble. This bill could be unveiled at the end of February. It would be preceded by a proposal on a "just transition mechanism", a provision much awaited by the countries that are lagging behind in the transition.

Poland "wants very concrete estimates of the sums" needed to achieve carbon neutrality, a European diplomat explained, a "decisive" point in the discussion.

In fact, the climate challenge is dependent on the money that the European Union will devote to it. However, the long-term budget discussion is only just beginning: on the leaders' agenda, on Thursday, too, the financial framework for the period 2021-2027 promises heated debates.

The Commission's proposal, which dates back to May 2018, had already irritated many capitals.

- Von der Leyen "worried" -

The "toolbox" proposed last week by the Finnish Presidency for negotiations has revived dissension.

Ursula von der Leyen said she was "worried" about the proposed "drastic cuts", especially in areas that could be affected like Frontex (European Border Guard Agency), defense, digital and "efforts to green the economy ".

"It's an attempt that has its weaknesses, its limits, it must be taken for what it is: a base of work," summed up on Tuesday the French Amelie de Montchalin, at the arrival of a meeting of ministers European Affairs in preparation for the summit.

"It is extremely difficult to find a balance," conceded a European source.

The future EU budget must reconcile the financial loss associated with the departure of the British contributor and new priorities (climate, security, defense). Not to mention the defenders of the Union's historic policies, agriculture and cohesion, in which the Juncker Commission wanted to cut corners to find savings.

Finland has proposed a budget with national contributions amounting to 1.07% of European gross national income, compared with 1.114% proposed by the Commission.

A European source said it expected a "massacre" during these initial discussions, under the leadership of Charles Michel.

"We know that we will not have an agreement on Thursday, we nevertheless know that we must set milestones, that we advance, and that we can before the spring to have an agreement," said de Montchalin, which will lead to negotiations with the European Parliament.

© 2019 AFP