It wouldn't surprise me if there were a whiff of self-congratulation when EU policymakers address the international climate change conference in Bali.

In March, the bloc's 27 governments set themselves ambitious targets for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. By making these cuts partly conditional on similar action being taken by other industrialised countries, EU leaders were effectively taking delight in proving they can be ahead of the Americans on something.

Unfortunately, the leadership demonstrated during the spring has been to a large extent squandered since then because of a deep-seated reluctance to fulfil the promises that were made. All of the EU's most powerful bodies have to share the blame.

A meagre 6% of Europe's energy is currently derived from renewable sources (primarily from hydro-electricity). By 2020, the European commission wants to increase that proportion to 20% and it was scheduled to publish plans for the contribution each EU country would make towards realising that goal in December.

José-Manuel Barroso, the commission's president, recently announced, however, that publication has been postponed until 2008. While Gordon Brown stated earlier this month that virtually all of Britain's electricity will have to come from low-carbon sources by 2020, his government is resisting the steps that have to be taken for that vision to become reality. The UK has reportedly told Brussels officials that anything above a 9% target for renewables would be too costly. This is short-sighted, considering the immense long-term savings that could be achieved through reducing dependence on imported oil.

Cars and vans account for about one fifth of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. Car ownership is also rising. Belgium, a country of 10 million people, has six million vehicles, for example.

Every sane individual recognises that emissions from transport must fall, yet 2007 has been a year of capitulation to car makers. First, the European commission diluted its plans on introducing maximum pollution thresholds for vehicles. Then, the EU's finance ministers rejected efforts to replace vehicle registration charges with a carbon tax.

Meanwhile, our elected representatives' approach to air transport seems more motivated by a desire to avoid a spat with Ryanair's colourful chief Michael O'Leary than to do anything that would protect the environment. Last month, MEPs voted that airlines should be allowed to emit 70% more greenhouse gases than they did in 1990.

Some solace could be taken if the EU's newest entrants were prepared to learn from the mistakes made by the older ones. But the 10 mainly ex-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004 have requested that only 1% of the €177bn they are due to receive in regional aid between now and 2013 should be spent on renewable energy. More than half of all the money they are likely to receive for transport will be used for roads, according to plans they have submitted to the European commission.

Predictably, the commission has given a rosy picture of the EU's climate change policies in a pre-Bali assessment. Closer inspection shows, though, that a sizeable chunk of the emission cuts the EU expects to see in the next few years depend on its member states buying carbon credits from foreign countries.

These licenses to pollute might eventually help to stabilise global emissions. But they should not be used as part of a creative accounting trick designed to conceal how the EU's performance does not inspire confidence.