The European Union is maintaining its position that the UN talks in Bali should establish strict guidelines for wealthy nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, despite opposition from the US. European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas emphasized the importance of including a target range for emissions reductions for developed countries in 2020. While the EU did not repeat its specific demand for reductions of 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, a compromise draft text was created at the meeting to kickstart negotiations for a global agreement to combat climate change. This draft dropped the goal of tough emissions cuts by 2020 for rich countries but kept the objective of halving global emissions by 2050.