We hear MEPs' expectations of the UN climate change conference and the answer to the question, "Is an oil free future possible"?

The News: Cancun talks - Oil free future?

What to expect of the climate change  summit? Answer in this edition.

Could we do without petrol  and its derivatives?

Experts and MEPs tackled  this strategic problem on Tuesday.

The ecological revolution  won’t start in Cancun.

Over 194 countries are still  in the Mexican city negotiating

But no head of state will be taking part,

a sign of the moderate expectations  of this UN summit.

But despite this, a delegation of MEPs  arrived to Mexico on Monday

The 14 MEPs that make up  the EP's official delegation are there

to see how the Commission  fulfils its mandate.

One of the main stumbling blocks  is creating a legal framework

that would oblige the biggest polluters  to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

Now the only text compelling  some industrialised countries

to limit their pollution is  the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

So what progress is possible  at the Cancun summit?

What we may be able to get  is agreement on specific issues

like the reduction of emissions from  deforestation and forest degradation.

The burning of rainforests is responsible  for almost 20% of emissions in the world.

So if we could get an agreement on that  and maybe a few other issues,

They could also agree on the methods of  funding and managing the climate funds

that should help the poorest countries  combat climate change.

In 2009 they were promised $30 billion  by 2012 and $100 billion by 2020.

The result of the negotiations  is expected for 10 December.

Is an oil free future conceivable?  Today the answer is no.

Europe imports almost 90%  of the black gold it needs.

According to the UN, there could be  a shortage of petrol in 53-63 years.

For more than 15 years, Michel Wautelet  has been imagining an oil free future.

He researches alternatives  to this precious liquid.

Basically, there's biofuels,  but there’s clearly too little of them.

There's electricity, with its problems  concerning the range of vehicles.

As for hydrogen, there are still  so many technical problems

that nothing is certain about its future.

In Europe, transport absorbs 50%  of the consumption of petrol.

A change in our way of life  is to be expected.

But at what price? No more  long-distance travel and cheap flights.

Public transport must also be developed -  and the transport of goods, too.

Trucks are the Achilles’ heel  of the European economy.

We have to envisage  modes of transport for goods

which are much more  multimodal than today.

For private transport,  the electric car has many advantages.

We don't have oil in Europe.  We need to import it,

and it gets more and more expensive.  And there's the question of pollution,

especially in densely populated  areas like Europe.

I think electric vehicles  can provide a potential solution.

Oil is also present in  a multitude of everyday objects,

Too long, too expensive.  The Member States said no

to the extension of maternity leave  to 20 weeks, proposed by the MEPs.

The measure is deemed too costly. The  States decided to continue negotiations

on the basis of the Commission's  original proposal of 18 weeks.

After a meeting on Monday,  the discussions are making headway.

Some details need to be fixed.  Political group leaders will decide.

A committee could vote  on the budget on Wednesday.

the goal of an informal meeting  at the EP on Monday.

all presented different  crisis management initiatives

with the aim of improving European  coordination in humanitarian disasters.