EU greenhouse gas emissions have been decreasing

A new report by EEA states that greenhouse gas emission in the EU have been decreasing since 2008. This is not surprising because Europe has been facing a hard recession. This is to remind us that economic development and greenhouse gas emissions are still tightly tied up and makes us wonder if the decarbonization of the economy is possible.

EU greenhouse gas emissions: more than half way to the '20 % target by 2020'
Key findings
-The EU-27's emissions have been declining steadily since 2003 to reach 4 940 billion tonnes CO2 equivalents in 2008. Compared to the 2007 emissions, this represents a reduction of 99 million tonnes or 2 %. With the 2008 emissions 11.3 % below its 1990 levels, EU-27 has already achieved more than half of its unilateral reduction target of 20 % by 2020 through domestic emission reductions alone.
-In this first year of the Kyoto Protocol's commitment period, EU-15 cut its emissions by 76 million tonnes CO2 equivalents, corresponding to a drop of 1.9 % from 2007. This brought the EU-15 emissions 6.9 %, or 295 million tonnes, below Kyoto base-year levels, already in 2008, not accounting for carbon sinks and the use of Kyoto flexible mechanisms.
-For the first time since 1992, emissions from international aviation and maritime transport fell in EU-27, partly due to the economic recession. These two sectors account for about 5.9 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in EU-27 but are not accounted for in relation to measuring progress towards Kyoto targets.
Spain accounted for one third of the net reduction in EU-27, mainly due to a substantial replacement of coal by natural gas and a sharp decline in gasoline consumption in road transport, complemented by an increase in renewable energy generation.
-The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) covered 43 % of total EU-27 greenhouse gas emissions in 2008. In 2008, emission levels under the EU ETS were about 3 % lower than 2007 levels. The recently published 2009 EU ETS data, reveal that verified emissions in 2009 decreased by 11.6 % compared to 2008 levels, and reflects the impact of the economic recession.