All eyes on Copenhagen

On the Copenhagen train

The EU institutions will send a large delegation to Copenhagen. The European Commission, which leads negotiations, will send the largest contingent with around 250 officials going to Copenhagen, most from its environment department, but some from transport and energy, and trade . Key players are Stavros Dimas, the commissioner for environment, Artur Runge Metzger, the EU's chief negotiatior, and Karl Falkenberg, the director-general of the environment department. The Commission convenes an early-morning meeting every day to thrash out the EU's bargaining position.
The European Parliament will send 16 MEPs as part of its official delegation (see box). This includes Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and Jo Leinen, the head of the Parliament's environment committee. Nick Griffin, a far-right UK MEP, who once described global warming as a “hoax”, is another member of the delegation. Member states send their own negotiators, so the Council of Ministers will send the smallest contingent: just six people in total.

The Parliament's delegation to Copenhagen

- Jerzy Buzek, Polish centre-right (EPP), Parliament president 
- Jo Leinen, German Socialist (S&D), chairman of the delegation 
- Karl-Heinz Florenz, German centre-right (EPP), vice-chairman of the delegation 
- Pilar Del Castillo Vera, Spanish centre-right (EPP) 
- Romana Jordan-Cizelj, Slovenian centre-right (EPP) 
- Iva Zanicchi, Italian centre-right (EPP) 
- Corien Wortmann-Kool, Dutch centre-right (EPP) 
- Dan Jørgensen, Danish Socialist (S&D) 
- Linda McAvan, UK Socialist (S&D) 
- Marita Ulvskog, Swedish Socialist (S&D) 
- Corinne Lepage, French Liberal (ALDE) 
- Satu Hassi, Finnish Green (GREENS/EFA) 
- Miroslav Ouzký, Czech centre-right (ECR) 
- Bairbre De Brún, Northern Irish nationalist (GUE/NGL) 
- Anna Rosbach, Danish far-right (EFD) 
- Nick Griffin, UK far-right (non-aligned)