HIGHLIGHTS-Merkel gives policy speech in parliament

BERLIN Nov 10 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel laid out her policy agenda in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament on Tuesday.

Below are highlights of her address, which comes roughly two weeks after she was sworn in for a second term as head of a centre-right coalition of her conservatives and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP).

CLIMATE TALKS

"We would never allow the worldwide financial and economic crisis to be a cheap excuse for failing to protect the environment, that would be the biggest error we could make.

"We are still a long way from a sustainable stewardship of our global resources: so far we haven't got a global, long-term and reliable agreement on either energy or the environment.

...

"A failure of the climate conference in Copenhagen would set progress on international climate policy back years. We cannot afford this.

"Time is running out and the EU has developed a clear and distinct negotiating position. Now we expect commitments from the United States and countries like China and India. And I will lobby for this personally and obviously... I will go to Copenhagen."

OPEL

"The old government decided on a strategic investor for Opel with good cause, to give it a new future. If we hadn't done this, there would be no Opel today, because GM could not fulfil its responsibility towards Opel as mother company for months.

"I greatly regret the decision of GM. But the workers of Opel need more than our regret, they need a concrete solution, a solution that offers job security ..

"We expect GM to present a reliable plan for Opel quickly.

"This solution can only work if GM takes over the lion's share of the restructuring costs, which also means that it has to pay back the bridging loan."

"We expect the company in the future to be as committed to its European sites as to its American ones."

UNEMPLOYMENT

"Joblessness has risen and will rise further, and it is only thanks to "Kurzarbeit" (a government subsidy scheme that encourages companies to reduce the hours of their workers) that more jobs were not lost. Therefore we will extend the "Kurzarbeit" scheme."