EU: EU leaders have agreed to support plans to establish a common European energy policy, but differences of opinion remain over how far markets should be integrated.
They also agreed to support ongoing economic reforms and set new targets for job creation in the EU at the European Council summit in Brussels yesterday.
EU leaders signed up to support 20 ideas contained in a recent European Commission green paper on energy, including plans to develop a common EU external energy policy, to achieve more energy efficiency and to hold an annual strategic review of energy use in the EU.
But member states did not sign up to more sensitive proposals for the energy sector that would dilute national competence in energy matters, such as a single European regulator.
Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel said the agreement was historic and that the issue of "economic patriotism" had not emerged during the debate.
In the run-up to the summit there had been fears that disputes over proposed cross-border energy mergers in Spain and France could poison the summit proceedings. But diplomats said the meeting on energy was held in a cordial and constructive spirit.
French president Jacques Chirac made a spirited defence of France at the summit, declaring that any talk of protectionism was "rubbish".
He also welcomed plans to create a common European energy policy.
Member states backed plans to develop Europe's energy policy based on the objectives of sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply. They also signed up to complete the internal electricity and gas markets, develop more interconnections between national grids and pursue targets for renewable energy.
Yet elements of the commission green paper on energy, specifically plans to set up a single EU regulator and create a European energy grid, did not get political support. There was also no sign of EU leaders giving the European Commission the legal competence to take tough action in the field of energy, in the same manner as trade.
Meanwhile, a debate on the services directive elicited a strong response from several states, which pushed through a late change to the written conclusions of the summit.
The Dutch were concerned that the wording prepared by the Austrian presidency would not give enough freedom to the commission to redraft the compromise text of the directive, which was recently agreed by the European Parliament. They were supported by several states from eastern Europe, which want a more liberal directive. However, Austria and Germany have both stated that the directive will only be supported if it follows the parliament's compromise.