The European Union's executive leader stated that the United States needs to demonstrate more ambition in addressing global climate change during the upcoming meeting of major industrialized nations in Japan. While there has been some progress in aligning views on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, significant differences remain between Brussels and Washington on the approach to achieving this goal. EU officials emphasized that without the United States taking a step forward, progress on a new U.N. climate change agreement is unlikely until the following year. The next round of U.N. climate talks is scheduled for December in Poland, but with the United States undergoing a presidential transition, significant developments may have to wait until a new leader takes office in January. Barroso stated that the world is expecting more from a major economy like the United States and he anticipates that the U.S. will agree to a more ambitious conclusion at the upcoming G8 summit than the one reached last year. The EU is pushing for the G8 to establish a global goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to also agree on a target for cutting emissions by 2020, although it is unlikely that the Bush administration will support the idea of a near-term goal. Barroso believes that a 2050 target would not be credible without a closer goal as well. He stated that he anticipated the upcoming U.S. president to further support the change in Washington's stance towards measures already approved by the EU. The EU, consisting of 27 nations, has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. They are currently developing regulations on emissions from industry, cars, aircraft, and other legislation in order to achieve this goal. The U.S. has expressed its dedication to combating climate change but is not willing to agree to mandatory emissions reductions until major developing countries like China and India also agree to enforceable limits.