Published Friday, 16 March 2007
Spring European Council Approves the Future of the Energy Policy for Europe (EPE)
EU Policy Briefing - 16 March 2007
At their Spring meeting EU leaders gave the green light to most of the proposals contained in the Commission’s ‘Energy package’ and in the Energy Efficiency Action Plan. In the run up to the Summit there was uncertainty as to how enthusiastic Member States would be. The debate saw an energetic Merkel exerting significant pressure on some other leaders in order to gain the necessary votes in support of the proposals. One of the preconditions to agreement is that an Energy Policy for Europe will respect Member States’ choice of energy mix. However, in the wake of the Spring Council, Europe is getting set to speak with one voice externally, and to table plans to use international negotiations and bilateral agreements to enlarge its energy supply agreements, on the one hand, and to promote international trade in environmental and energy efficient goods and services on the other.