The European Commission last week adopted a package of measures “to institute a new energy policy for Europe aimed at combating climate change and reinforcing the energy security and competitiveness of the EU”. The proposal reaffirms the objective spelt out by Brussels at the end of the year to conclude a new international accord between the developed countries to enter in force after 2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol expires) with the aim of “reducing polluting emissions by 30% by 2020”. There are four central planks of the provision: creation of an internal energy market; accelerated transition to an economy with low carbon emissions; energy efficiency; and the pursuit of an international energy policy in which the EU would express itself in unison. During the press conference at which the new energy policy was presented – with the presence also of EU Commissioners for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, and for the Environment, Stavros Dimas – the President of the Executive Josè Manuel Barroso emphasized that “the Commission’s proposals testify to the European commitment to exercising leadership in the field of sustainability of the energy sector and providing solutions to climate change”.
