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EU Fails to Shake Up Europe’s Energy Market
European Union leaders have failed to agree on regulations for the EU energy market that would make Europe less dependent on energy exports – chiefly from Russia and Northern Africa. German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked the plan of compulsory liberalization of the European energy market. Instead, the EU adopted an agreement to make renewable energy 20 percent of the EU’s energy mix by 2020.
The EU summit in Brussels has reached an agreement on a binding target of making renewable energy 20 percent of the EU’s energy mix by 2020. The deal, which calls for a similar cut in carbon dioxide emissions, allows less technologically advanced states to have a smaller share of the burden.
This environment-targeted decision has shown that the European Union has giving up on solving the issue of dependence on energy supplies from Russia, CIS and North Africa by new pipeline projects and reforms on the market.
The final document of the summit does not contain a mention about the reorganization of national energy monopolists of EU member states, a move which was opposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel anxious to protect national energy giant E.ON.
Participants of the summit did not hide the fact that they expecting something more. Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko came to Brussels to discuss possible financing for the Nabucco pipeline which connects Central Asia and Europe bypassing Russia. His visit was not fruitless as the EU promised to earmark ˆ494 million for infrastructure projects before 2020.
Energy issues will top the agency at the Russia-EU summit in Samara, Central Russia, in mid-May.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 12, 2007
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