Europe is on the right track, pursuing a policy of concrete results, the European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said yesterday in Brussels at the end of the European Union's spring summit devoted to economic issues. He was referring to the agreement on an EU energy policy covering security, renewables and external relations.
The EU should tackle problems that can make a real difference to citizens, he thinks, if it is to restore its credibility with them after a long period of constitutional introspection. Energy is certainly one of these, as its profile steadily climbs in importance politically, economically and in environmental terms.
This is a welcome development. If the beginning made yesterday can be effectively delivered upon it will justify Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's description of the decision as historic. It makes little sense to handle energy policy solely at national level when so much of what matters in it is determined internationally. In the past few weeks there has been an outburst of economic nationalism, as several large states resisted takeover of strategic energy companies. The issue did not prevent yesterday's agreement to see a single energy market completed next year, to develop a common external policy, to boost research into alternative sources of energy and to keep the whole area under annual review. But proposals to give the Commission more competence were resisted, which could reduce its effectiveness - and therefore undermine its popular appeal.
Given the rapidly changing international energy picture, it is high time for the EU to come fully abreast of the issue. It has been affected by the rise in demand for oil in China and India, Russia's growing importance as a supplier of gas, and by dramatic evidence about the pace of global warming caused by fossil fuels. All this creates a pressing need to adapt existing policies and to stimulate research and development into alternative and renewable energy sources. This would give the European economy an essential boost in the medium to long term, since the world region which best tackles these questions will carve out a competitive and employment advantage over the next generation. The bolder targets agreed for the use of such alternatives can help stimulate these changes.
The summit also agreed to proceed with the controversial services directive, as amended by the European Parliament, and to an aspirational package of labour market reforms. These are to be implemented at national level, leaving them prey to conflicts such as those currently under way in France. Co-ordinated plans to stimulate economic recovery in Europe await the outcome of elections in Italy next month and France next year. Until then it will be difficult to gauge the extent of the recovery under way in Germany and whether that can create a beneficial ripple effect elsewhere. Getting energy policy right can make a real contribution to that task. It will now be up to the Commission to show it can use this mandate well.