EU energy ministers in crunch talks

Plans to diversify and safeguard Europe’s future energy supplies face their first major challenge as EU energy ministers hold crunch talks in Brussels.

Ministers will, in special talks, on Thursday attempt to broker a deal on energy and on tackling climate change, ahead of the EU’s annual; spring summit on 8-9 March.

Member states are deeply divided over Brussels plans to increase Europe’s use of renewable energy and on opening European energy markets to full competition.

Finding agreement on either issue will be a difficult task, and according to a German diplomat close to the issue, decisions will have to be based on a “political commitment rather than on hard science.”

Brussels wants 20 per cent of the EU’s overall energy mix to derive from renewable sources by 2020.

But ministers are split on whether the renewable targets should be binding, with Germany, Spain and Italy supporting the commission’s plan while France and the UK would prefer non-binding targets.

But Brussels is confident it has enough support around the council table to convince the EU’s reluctant capitals to endorse its goals, a commission official told this website.

The commission is also pushing to separate – or ‘unbundle’ - energy producing and supplying companies in a bid to stimulate the growth of smaller energy companies.

Unbundling is for the commission “absolutely essential to guarantee freedom of choice and real competition in the European market” said EU energy chief Andris Piebalgs’ spokesman.

But France has proposed an alternative to the commission’s broad unbundling brush, based on its existing energy system where energy producers are, with certain safeguards, allowed to own distributors.

Piebalgs has said he is ready to listen to alternatives and will welcome a “healthy debate” on energy unbundling.

But he also stressed that minister must take decisions and find an agreement ahead of the key spring summit in March.

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