|
On the table at the two-day meeting is how much aid the bloc will give to developing nations to tackle the effects of global warming.
The BBC's Oana Lungescu, in Brussels, says EU leaders will try to agree on a joint offer of around 6bn euros ($9bn; £5.5bn) over three years.
Financial matters will also be discussed at the twice-yearly summit.
Earlier on Thursday, momentum was building for a tax on bankers' bonuses.
The leaders of France and Germany swung behind the idea after the UK announced a one-off supertax on bonuses in a pre-Budget report.
Writing in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a one-off tax should be "considered a priority".
'Fast start'
The European Council meeting is the first since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect and Belgium's Herman van Rompuy was elected as its first president.
The money being sought at the Brussels summit is for a "fast start" contribution to help the world's poorest nations tackle rising sea levels, deforestation, water shortages and other consequences of climate change between 2010 and 2012.
Several wealthy EU states have announced significant contributions, but it is not yet clear what Germany, France and Eastern European nations are ready to put into the pot, our correspondent says.
The largest contributions came from Britain at 885m euros and Sweden - which currently holds the rotating EU presidency - at 765,000 euros. The Netherlands has also pledged a significant contribution.
As the summit got under way, pledges had been made for around 2bn euros.
President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek told EU leaders that "swift, binding, global decisions" were needed on climate targets.
"We have called on the developed countries to reduce emissions by 25-40% by 2020, and expect developing countries to achieve cuts of between 15% and 30%," he said.
"We know approximately how much this will cost the [European] Union - no less than 30bn euros per year. It is important for this burden to be shared fairly among the member states. We should respect the principle of mutual solidarity."
He added: "This meeting is decisive. This meeting will determine the funding for the immediate aid required by developing countries from next year to 2012 - before the new agreement comes into force.
"A call upon you - put a figure on the table. We demanded this in the European Parliament resolution in November."
Security scare
As EU leaders arrived for the twice-yearly Brussels summit there was a moment of drama when environmental protesters breached the security cordon disguised as an official delegation.
Several Greenpeace activists pulled up in a silver minivan similar to those used by summit attendees.
They burst out with banners reading "EU: Save Copenhagen" before they were moved aside by security guards.
They were urging EU nations to boost their commitments to achieve success at the conference in the Danish capital.
Other issues sure to concern EU leaders include Greece's enormous level of debt.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Greece's financial problems should be solved domestically.
Greek Deputy Finance Minister Philippos Sachinidis said earlier that his country's debt stood at 300bn euros - its highest level in modern history.
www.trend.az
|
