BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union and Italian experts will launch discussions next week on how the bloc's plan to fight climate change might impact EU economies.
Italy, one of several critics of the plan to cut greenhouse gases emissions, has asked to discuss the impact as negotiations continue among the bloc's 27 governments and the European Parliament.
"There will be technical discussions between the Italian authorities and the European Commission and these discussions, as far as I am aware, will start next week," a European Commission spokeswoman told a daily news briefing.
Current EU president France hopes to reach an agreement on the package by the end of 2008, but Italy and a group of nations from central and eastern Europe are demanding changes, which environmentalists say would amount to watering it down.
(Writing by Marcin Grajewski)
