The European Commission has agreed to increase Bulgaria and Romania's emissions quota. The increase could be anything up to 20 per cent over 2005 levels till 2020.

The draft decision, which is part of the commission's new energy and climate change plan, renders infractuous its earlier decision to cut Bulgaria's emissions for 2008-2012 by 37 per cent and that for Romania by 20.7 per cent. The commission says the changed plan will help the new entrants' economies to catch up with the rest. The old member nations will have to compensate by further reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to make space for the increase allowed to Bulgaria and Romania.