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ZINGST, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told voters on Saturday that Britain's decision to leave the European Union and France's election of President Emmanuel Macron had changed her view on the bloc, adding it was worth fighting for a stronger Europe.

Merkel's comments, made in a speech in the Baltic Sea resort town of Zingst two months before a federal election, underline her personal determination to deepen European integration if she is re-elected for a fourth term.

Calling European Union membership one of Germany's biggest strengths, Merkel said last year's Brexit decision and elections in France and the Netherlands, in which pro-European parties defeated populist candidates, had changed her perspective.

"For many people, including myself, something changed when we saw the Britons want to leave, when we were worried about the outcome of the elections in France and the Netherlands," Merkel told voters, some of whom wore straw hats with black-red-and-gold hatbands, the colors of the German flag.

The center-right chancellor admitted that the EU was far from perfect and that Brussels sometimes was too bureaucratic.

"But we have realized in the past few months that Europe is more than just bureaucracy and economic regulation, that Europe and living together in the European Union have something to do with war and peace, that the decades of peace after World War Two would have been completely unthinkable without the European Union," Merkel said to applause.

Many people in the past had taken the EU and its advantages for granted -- such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to travel, said Merkel who grew up in communist East Germany.

"You don't have all this in many parts of the world. And that's why it is worth fighting for this Europe," Merkel said.

"That's why one of our election placards is saying: If Europe is stronger, then Germany will be stronger. This is directly related."

Merkel has said she is open to proposals of strengthening the single currency through the creation of a euro zone finance minister who would oversee a pooled budget for investments and transfers intended to help member states cushion downturns.

Reporting by Michael Nienaber, Reuters TV; Editing by Stephen Powell

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Merkel tells voters: Brexit, French poll changed my view on Europe - Reuters

July 13, 2017; BBC News, Europe

Polands slide toward authoritarianism has been spilling over into the environmental sector, but a new ruling by European Union officials could halt the damage.

According to the BBC, the trouble started when the Polish government increased logging in a conservation area called the Biaowiea Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Europes last ancient forest, to curb a bark beetle infestation. The move faced backlash from by Green activists and others trying to protect the endangered species inside the 350,000-acre preserve that borders Belarus.

The EUs top court issued a ruling this week.

The EU Commission took the unusual step of asking the court to impose an immediate ban on the logging because it takes on average two years to reach a judgment in cases like these, and the EU is worried the logging is already causing irreparable damage If it eventually rules that Poland has infringed EU environmental regulations, it can impose hefty fines on Warsaw.

The New York Times even highlighted the yearlong battle to save the forest.

The protesters, backed by environmentalists, say all invasive operations in the primeval forest endanger its ecosystem The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, is on their side, too. Last week, during a meeting in Krakow, the delegates adopted a decision in which they urged Polish government to halt logging in the forest, especially in old-growth tree stands. UNESCO is also considering adding the forest to theList of World Heritage in Danger, a move usually reserved for land and properties threatened by armed conflicts and natural disasters.

Avid international civil society watchers may note that Poland is one of many countries where illiberal democracy is taking hold, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump visited the country last week to admonish the creep of government bureaucracy, berate fake news journalists, and spread his nationalist message before the Group of 20 summit in Germany.

EU officials also criticized Polands administration over a new law allowing parliament to appoint judges, arguing that the change will politicize the justice system and undermine the separation of powers, according to the BBC.

Although activists are planning a protest in Warsaw for the weekend, Reuters noted that the opposition has been unable to marshal any real public protest against the ruling partys moves, reflecting Poles frustration with a system in which even simple court cases can last years.

Increasingly, the European Union has stepped up as a watchdog. Just this week, the EU Commission announced plans to open cases against the three states that have failed to take in asylum-seekers per a 2015 plan: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Poland and Hungary have refused to take in a single person under a plan agreed in 2015 to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece, which had been overwhelmed by mass influx of people from the Middle East and Africa, Reuters reported. The Czech Republic had initially taken in 12 people from their assigned quota of 2,691, but said earlier in June it would take no more in, citing security concerns.

However, the European Unions internal conflicts could threaten its role in the future.

The blocs divisive migration disputes have come at a time its unity and resolve are already being tested by Brexit, weak economies and higher support for populist, Eurosceptic and nationalist-minded parties on the continent, Reuters reporters Gabriela BaczynskaandFoo Yun Chee wrote. It pits the formerly communist easterners against the wealthy westerners and countries on the Mediterranean coast, with Italy leading calls to punish Poland and Hungary by taking away some of the generous EU funds they benefit from.Anna Berry

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European Union Steps Up to Save Polish Forest - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (left), President of the European Council Donald Tusk (right) and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker walk next to each other after a Ukraine-EU summit in Kiev on July 13, 2017. | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Brussels and Kiev celebrate fresh ties but Dutch disagreement casts shadow over talks.

By David Stern

7/13/17, 9:51 PM CET

Updated 7/15/17, 11:47 AM CET

KIEV Ukrainian and European Union leaders ended a two-day summit Thursday that celebrated their growing closeness while also highlighting points of tension between the two sides.

European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission PresidentJean-Claude Juncker arrived in Kiev on Wednesday evening for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other top officials.

Itshould have been a victory lap after one of the most successful periods in relations with Brussels in Ukraines history. Last month, the EU granted Ukrainians the right to travel to Europes Schengen zone without visas one of their most prized foreign policy goals. This week, the EUratified a far-reaching Association Agreement with Kiev, which had been more than a decade in the making.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

At issue was a line declaring that the European Union acknowledges Ukraines European aspirations and welcomes its European choice which had been included in a statement after the EUs 2015 Eastern Partnership summit, as well as written into the ratified political and trade agreement.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

According to European diplomats, Dutch officials insisted additional language be inserted into the final statement, to reflect a 2016 European Council decision thatthe Association Agreement did not guarantee Ukraine a path to become an EU member. The Dutch parliament had earlier ratified the deal on the condition that this did not lead to automatic membership for Ukraine.

EU officials said Ukraine and its EU allies insisted the line must be included without alteration. So in the end, the seven-page document, which had been laboriously negotiated over weeks, was not issued.

Some observers were at a loss as to why a compromise could not be reached perhaps by leaving out the line altogether.

Practically, this is not a big deal, said one European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. But symbolically its damaging. It shows a lack of unity.

Atthe moment this is more a question of language than policy. The Netherlands, officials say, is supportive of Ukraine in private discussions; however, Dutch officials take a harder line in public, fearful of providing political ammunition to the countrys far right.

Within the EU theres a certain amount of unity, at least for the moment, over the policy toward Ukraine reflected by the extension last month of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and destabilization campaign within Ukraine.

The Association Agreement is viewed as the capstone of this consensus, though the path to ratification was strewn with rocks.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013. This unleashed pro-Western protests and clashes in the capital, which ultimately drove Yanukovych from power.

The agreement was signed, but fighting broke out in Ukraines east, which grew into a conflict thats killed more than 10,000 people and decimated the countrys economy. Meanwhile, Dutch voters rejected the Association Agreement in a referendum, concerned over what commitments it made to the Ukrainians.

After Dutch concerns were assuaged by fellow EU leaders, there was a sense of mission accomplished among European and Ukrainian officials in Kiev on Thursday. Tusk even handed Poroshenko a document formally confirming ratification.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013.

[This] was a kind of milestone summit, to summarize all the work that has been done, said European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. Now we are discussing how to fully use the potential of the Association Agreement and deepen cooperation in a number of sectors.

But though membership is not on the table at the moment, Ukrainian officials are keen to establish other incentives they can work toward and hold out to the public as possibilities for the future. In remarks after the summit, Poroshenko expressed hopes for Ukraine to become a member of the EU customs union and Schengen open-border zone.

EU officials were noncommittal.

Furthermore, it remains to be seen how fully Ukraine implements the Association Agreements commitments, which comeinto full effect in September and involve wide-ranging political, legal, economic and quality-control reforms.

Ultimately, Ukraines endemic corruption was the biggest point of concern. EU leaders warned their Ukrainian counterparts that this had to be their primary focus, otherwise all the hard work of the past years couldbe undone.

What were asking we wont be lecturing the country because this isnt a country that needs to be lectured is to increase the fight against corruption, Juncker said. Corruption is undermining all the efforts this great nation is undertaking.

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EU and Ukraine close but not that close - POLITICO.eu

The U.K. acknowledged for the first time on paper that it will have to pay money to the European Union as it withdraws from the bloc, seeking to damp down a row over the countrys so-called Brexit bill.

The government has been clear that we will work with the EU to determine a fair settlement of the U.K.s rights and obligations as a departing member state, Brexit Minister Joyce Anelay, a member of the House of Lords, said Thursday in a written statement to Parliament that referred explicitly to the financial settlement with the EU. The government recognizes that the U.K. has obligations to the EU, and the EU obligations to the U.K., that will survive the U.K.s withdrawal and that these need to be resolved.

Britains so-called exit bill has shaped up to be one of the thorniest issues in the Brexit negotiations, with media speculation putting the fee as high as 100 billion euros ($114 billion). Prime Minister Theresa May needs to come to an accommodation with her EU counterparts on the payment, because its one of three areas, alongside citizens rights and the border with Ireland that the EU is demanding sufficient progress on before the discussions can move onto Britains future relationship with the bloc.

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Anelays statement contrasts with the more bellicose tone employed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson just two days ago. Answering questions in Parliament, he agreed with euro-skeptic Tory lawmaker Philip Hollobone who suggested the foreign secretary should make it clear to the EU that if it wants a penny piece more from Britain as part of the Brexit settlement, it can go whistle. Johnson responded that the sums that I have seen that they propose to demand from this country seem to me to be extortionate, and I think that to go whistle is an entirely appropriate expression.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said on April 29 that the sum would be between 40 billion euros and 60 billion euros. While press stories have put the sum even higher than that, EU negotiator Michel Barnier hasnt publicly endorsed a number.

While the language of the statement is dry, its the first time Britain has acknowledged in writing the need to pay a financial settlement. When May wrote to European Council President Donald Tusk in March to officially trigger two years of Brexit discussions, she referred to it obliquely, saying we will need to discuss how we determine a fair settlement of the U.K.s rights and obligations as a departing member state.

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UK Accepts It Must Pay Brexit Bill on Departing European Union - Bloomberg

Editor's note: Whether G20 countries embrace responsible climate policy is of critical importance, as together they account for roughly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of global GDP. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced responsible climate policy as a goal of this years G20 Summit. In the lead-up to the Summit, WRI took a closer look at G20 countries progress toward meeting their targets under the Paris Agreement.

The European Union is a major player in reducing world emissions.

With a population of about 500 million, the 28 member states account for over 8 percent of total GHG emissions. Per capita, the EU emitted about 7.5 tons of carbon dioxide in 2013, compared to 19.6 in the United States and 8.4 in China.

Uniquely, the EU's member states issue a joint NDC, as environmental affairs are jointly managed as part of the EU's regional and economic integration. The EU's NDC (PDF) includes an economy-wide emission reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The primary vehicle for achieving this is by decreasing the credits available in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), a cap-and-trade system covering more than 11,000 power stations and industrial plants. Member states also will increase the share of renewable energy and strengthen energy efficiency measures.

The 40 percent target has been made binding by the 2030 climate and energy framework, adopted by EU leaders in October 2014. But it applies to the EU as a whole, whereas at the country level member states' contributions are not binding.

Since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, the EU has crafted several measures to decrease GHG emissions, the latest being the 2013-2020 Effort Sharing Decision and a proposal for a 2021-2030 Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR).

These tools establish annual GHG emission limits per country for the non-ETS sectors, based on their relative wealth. The proposed regulation sets the target of a 30 percent reduction in 2030 compared to 2005.

However, the proposal has attracted criticism for so-called "loopholes" that allow member states to use ETS allowances to achieve targets in the non-ETS sectors. Less ambitious member states could take advantage of loopholes, causing the whole EU to fall short of its climate ambitions.

Nevertheless, there are reasons for optimism both at EU and national levels.

The EU is currently revising directives that could help drive more renewable-based and efficient heating and cooling systems. One of these, theRenewable Energy Directive, proposes a specific target for the transport sector, requiring each member state to guarantee that 12 percent of energy used in all forms of transport is renewable by 2030. States and businesses seem receptive to such measures. Just in the past few days,France has announcedthat will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, while Swedish car manufacturerVolvowill only produce electric or hybrid vehicles starting in 2019.

Furthermore, the European Parliament just debated scaling up actions to reach the NDC pledge. Dutch MEP Bas Eickhoutproposed several amendmentsto the ESR document, such as closing the aforementioned ETS loopholes. Although not all of Mr. Eickhout's amendments made it through thevote in the Parliament, an important amendment to include long-term goals for 2050 has been adopted.

At the national level, some member states have already increased their national ambitions above their share in the EU NDC. In June, Sweden passeda new climate lawwhich embeds a zero GHG target by 2045, well before the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement. Sweden intends to achieve this ambitious goal by utilizing a carbon tax, which now stands at137 per ton. First introduced in 1991, Sweden's carbon tax is an example of how setting a high price is within the ETS is economically viable, asSwedish GDP has grown by 60 percent since 1991, ahead of the45 percent GDP increase in EU member states as a whole.

In France, newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron aims toupholdthe commitments contained in the2015 Energy Transition and Green Growth Law, while raising the ambition set by president Hollande in 2016 to close all coal power plants in 2023, to within 5 years. Moreover, France's current carbon tax of 34 per ton emitted will progressively increase each year to reach 110 per ton in 2030. These levies targeting non-ETS sectors are much more ambitious than the EU-wide ETS, which taxes a low5.5 per tonand thereby fails to properly incentivize companies to emit less CO2.

The G20 summit this weekend presents an opportunity to showcase the economic and financial policies which can help advance climate action and reinforce support for the Paris Agreement.

Going forward, the European Union should push for binding targets which will help further mobilize member states to action and hold them accountable for reducing their emissions. Although the EU has not yet shown a willingness to increase its climate ambitions, there are a multitude of opportunities in the months ahead to explore that possibility.

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European Union walks a tightrope to climate leadership - GreenBiz