Summit backs Energy Policy for Europe, avoids merger clash[fr][de] 

EU leaders backed proposals to strengthen energy cooperation at their annual spring summit in Brussels with a new 'Energy Policy for Europe' adopted on 24 March. The summit confirmed a strategy aimed primarily at increasing the EU's security of energy supply through:

• increased cooperation on external policy with main supplier countries such as OPEC and Russia, as well as with major transit and consumer countries; 
• diversification of energy sources - both external and 'indigenous' - and transport routes, including investment in new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals;
• a common approach to address crisis situations "in a spirit of solidarity".

The summit insisted on a balanced approach with the two other policy objectives of ensuring the competitiveness of European economies and securing longer term environmental sustainability. On competitiveness, the summit recommended:

• completing the internal market for gas and electricity by mid 2007;
• developing regional energy markets within the EU;
• developing electricity interconnections to reach the target of "at least 10% of member states' installed production capacity" (financing borne "mainly by the enterprises involved").

On environmental sustainability:

• adopting an "ambitious but realistic" Action Plan on Energy Efficiency by mid-2006;
• "considering raising by 2015 the share of renewable energies" to 15%; increasing the share of biofuels to 8% by the same date; implementing the biomass action plan

Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel repeated his stance on member states' national sovereignty when it comes to choosing their energy mix and expressed satisfaction that EU leaders supported that view.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said the summit was the "start of a process" and a "big qualitative step" on further EU cooperation on energy. "We had a very good discussion which underlined that all member states agree that we need a coordinated joint energy policy."

French President Jacques Chirac described the new EU strategy as "ambitious", saying it is "not excessive" to talk about  the Brussels summit as "a landmark summit". Chirac fended off allegations of protectionism in the Suez-GdF merger, saying the plans had been in the pipeline "for over six months". He cited 2004 figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which show France is host to "twice as much foreign investment as Germany" and "three times more than Italy". According to the figures cited by Chirac, foreign investments represented 42% of all investments in France while the UK figure was only 36%, Germany 24%, Spain 21% and Italy 13%. 

In that context, he said "nobody in the world can maintain such a view, […] at least nobody with a little competence". This is why Chirac said the issue had not been raised at the summit because there is "no argument for raising it". "None of our serious partners made an argument of this kind, for fear of being told to go back to school," he added.