Since taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union, they have vetoed an initiative to tighten the European Union’s 2020 target for greenhouse gas pollution. They are also embracing hydraulic fracturing for unconventional natural gas, with as many as 120 test wells to be drilled by a dozen companies in the next few years.

Both moves tie Europe more closely to fossil fuels, and risk impeding the emergence of a low-carbon economy.