(Adds quotes, detail) BRUSSELS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Europe is on track to complete a deal on fighting climate change later this week and may consider linking up with the United States on carbon-cutting measures, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday. "I am confident that the essentials of the Commission's proposal will remain intact," Barroso told a news conference. He voiced optimism that the EU summit on Thursday and Friday would bring a deal on the package, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020 and boost renewable energy by the same amount.The main blockages to a successful agreement are Poland's worries that the plan will create heavy costs for its power sector, which is about 95 percent dependent on coal -- the most polluting source of energy. Italy and Germany are worried it will increase costs for manufacturers and heavy industry, harming their ability to compete with rivals in less regulated areas. "Some countries are asking for more, others for less... I think we can reach a compromise," said Barroso. He said the Commission would consider being flexible on genuine concerns, but the overall 2020 targets were non-negociable." He held out the prospect of linking the EU's flagship emissions trading scheme, which makes industry buy permits to pollute, with any similar future scheme in the United States. "If we reach agreement this week, we should propose a transatlantic emission market which should be the basis for a global carbon market," he said. (Additional reporting by Felix Bate, Marcin Grajewski and Jan Strupczewski, writing by Pete Harrison)
A destroyed bulldozer is seen at a burned area in the forest at the coastal town of Laguna Verde, some 115 km (71 miles) northwest of Santiago, in this March 6, ...
