An EU-US ministerial meeting in Oslo to discuss the Kyoto protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not take place after the United States refused to participate, sources at the French EU presidency said Monday.
The United States and its partners in the so-called Umbrella Group, including Canada, Australia and Japan, did not want to go ahead with the Oslo meeting later this week because they doubted that the conditions necessary for it to succeed were in place, the sources said.
The United States gave its reply to the proposed meeting during a telephone call with EU officials, said the sources as EU environment ministers held a two-day meeting in Brussels.
The European Union "took note" of the Umbrella Group's decision, a spokesman for the French EU presidency said, adding that "there has not been a breakdown" in contacts.
The Oslo meeting, which would have preceded the Christmas weekend, was to have been "exploratory," the spokesman added.
Environment ministers from EU member states and other countries involved in climate-change negotiations will have a new opportunity to raise the issue during a UN environment program meeting in Nairobi next month, he said -- BRUSSELS (AFP)
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