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
