Merkel and SPD set goal for reducing CO2 emissions: draft paper BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats have agreed to aim for a 40 percent cut in European carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, a draft paper from coalition talks showed. "We want to give climate protection a central role in energy policy," the paper read. Both camps wanted to reduce emissions in Germany by "at least 40 percent" by 2020, the paper read. The European Union is so far aiming to cut emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. Member states want to set goals for 2030 in the coming months.