Opposing the will of both the Danish presidency and Berlin, the French President wants to participate personally in the setting of the European Union’s 2040 climate targets. This may result in sidetracking them.
Emmanuel Macron has a fondness for long-term battles, his advisers often repeat. Addressing his party’s youth section during the celebration of its 10th anniversary this past summer, the French President said, “I will need you in two years, in five years, in 10 years,” Le Monde reported.
Bypassing ministers
His term is into its last two years, but Mr Macron is not going anywhere, much less accepting a lame-duck status. Tomorrow, 4 September, he will host a high-profile session of defence talks featuring German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The dignitaries are to arrive in Paris at Mr Macron’s invitation.
The following week, the French President wants to make sure he will have a say in the decision on the EU climate target for 2040. The move is tantamount to throwing a wrench into EU climate policymaking.
Formally, the bloc’s environment ministers hold responsibility for setting the 2040 emissions-reduction target. Yet Paris now insists that heads of state and government—gathered in the European Council (EUCO)—should take the final decision. Table.media reports that France has urged EU ambassadors to route the matter to EUCO, bypassing ministerial channels.
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Procedural punctilio
The timing is tight. A special Environment Council meeting on 18 September aims to advance technical talks. Observers, however, consider it unlikely negotiators will bridge gaps by then. The next EUCO summit falls on 23-24 October, leaving room for further haggling. France’s gambit ties to strategic sequencing. It wants the bloc to prioritise updating its 2035 target before turning to the 2040 goal, which lacks binding force. The 2035 target is a commitment under the UN’s Paris Agreement (via the UNFCCC).
Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry opposes the move, backing the ministerial process. Denmark, holder of the rotating Council presidency, plans to push ahead with a special Environment Council session to approve both the 2040 target and the updated 2035 “nationally determined contribution” (NDC) for UN submission. Copenhagen confirmed that draft texts will land with ambassadors on 12 September for discussion. Today’s agenda-setting meeting could prove decisive.
I will need you in two years, in five years, in 10 years. — French President Emmanuel Macron
The tussle underscores a deeper divide. France frames the 2040 target as a political choice for leaders; Germany and Denmark defend technocratic protocol. If EUCO takes charge, the EU’s purely domestic 2040 goal—divorced from UN deadlines—could wait. For now, procedural punctilio trumps climate urgency.
