Several spokespersons for the Finnish Presidency confirmed on 28 September that the Finns are putting pressure on the Commission to adopt the long-awaited energy- efficiency action plan as soon as possible. In recent weeks, the adoption by the College of commissioners was postponed several times, supposedly for "administrative planning reasons".
But sources in the Council revealed that political tensions in the Commission lay at the heart of the hesitation to publish the energy plan. The proposal builds on the Commission's 2005 Green Paper on Energy Efficiency, which stated that the EU can reduce its primary energy consumption by 20% in the next 15 years, thereby saving between 60-150 billion euro per year. However, leading officials in the transport directorate-general, as well as the Commission president himself, seem to have doubts over the feasibility of these ambitious energy-saving goals.
The decision to postpone and rework the current proposal (see EurActiv 13 September) is therefore politically motivated, according to several sources in Brussels, although this is still denied by official Commission spokespeople. The Commission officials' hesitation to admit that there are internal tensions over this file is in sharp contrast with Vice-President Wallström's efforts to improve the Commission's internal and external communication. In an interview with EurActiv in June 2005, Margot Wallström said that the Commission should be more open about internal differences.
A Finnish spokesperson told EurActiv that the presidency is very concerned for the agenda of the energy council on 23 November, but refused to confirm that the council meeting might be cancelled if the Commission does not deliver the plan in time.
Green NGOs, in the meantime, mobilised all forces to save one of their main battle horses. In a letter written to President Barroso on 28 September, the green G-10 (WWF, EEB, Greenpeace and others) expressed their anger and urged the commission to publish the plan and "to include ... a proposal for developing and agreeing legally-binding targets for energy efficiency and conservation in all sectors of society".
