” “"The Europeans must save energy. Europe wastes at least 20% of the energy it uses". Through effective forms of savings on consumptions, "the EU will give its contribution to the fight against climate change" and will reduce "its dependency on the importation of fossil fuels from third countries". The EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs comments the Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, launched yesterday by the EU Executive Committee to coincide with today’s meeting in Lahti, which addresses this subject at its opening session. According to Piebalgs, "energy efficiency is a vital factor for Europe: if we act now, the direct cost of our consumptions might be cut down by over 100 billion euros a year by 2020, and every year we will avoid producing about 780 million tons of CO2". The Action Plan, which will be implemented over six years, includes 75 practical measures. "They include measures to increase the efficiency of household appliances, buildings, transport". In addition, the document recognises that "it is possible to save energy, especially by using low-consumption cars, developing the market for less polluting vehicles" and "improving the efficiency of road, railway, sea and air transport".” “
