Keen watchers of the UN climate talks are used to turning their eyes to Bonn each June for the mid-year negotiating session. But this year, to watch European climate diplomacy in action it’s worth keeping an eye on the grand halls and garden parties in Brussels.

EU summits with Caribbean and Latin American leaders, China and African countries are all scheduled for June and July, following the G7 in Germany. This summer, European leaders can’t avoid joining the conversation on climate.

These summits offer quite a different opportunity to the normal UN climate conferences. Free from the contested policy detail of the negotiation corridors, these high-level discussions allow for more leaders to engage in more candid conversations with other statesmen and women. They are the perfect moment to share visions for the Paris deal and, more importantly, the international climate regime it should establish. The conversations between Heads of State and Government will inevitably focus on questions of national interest, and offer an opportunity to bridge the gap in understanding in motivations and expectations for COP 21.

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