"EU talks to agree tactics ahead of an international climate summit in Doha next month ended in disarray on Thursday, after coal-dependent Poland led opposition to more ambitious attempts to curb atmospheric pollution."

"The bitter spat over a huge surplus of U.N. pollution permits was highly technical, but EU officials said it had serious implications for U.N. efforts to tackle climate change.

'We have not moved at all,' an EU official said on condition of anonymity. 'The lack of agreement could endanger a second commitment period.'

The European Union has taken a leading role in the Kyoto process, the only international framework for tackling climate change, whose first phase expires at the end of this year.

Many EU nations have said the European Union's environmental integrity would be undermined if it held on to an excess of allowances - officially named Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) and referred to disparagingly as 'hot air'."

Barbara Lewis reports for Reuters October 26, 2012. [2]