EU’s Environmental Endeavors

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance heard the testimony of Ambassador John Bruton this week, outlining the European Union’s energy policy objectives.

With the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting energy dependency, the Ambassador stated several EU policies such as energy taxation, the EU emission trading system, and a plan for sustainable coal technologies.

"Although EU energy policy is far from being created from scratch - a number of energy efficiency and renewables promotion measures date back more than 10 years - it is just recently that the EU has opted for a comprehensive, integrated and ambitious policy set in the field of energy and fight against climate change," said Ambassador Bruton, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the United States, during testimony.

He continued "the EU’s increasing dependency on imports threatens not only its security of supply but it also implies higher prices, if, for example, the price of oil rises to $100 per barrel in today’s money, the EU's energy import bill will be around 50 percent higher by 2030. While Europeans would have to pay a lot more for their energy, few additional jobs in the EU would be created this way. In contrast, boosting investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy and new technologies has wide-reaching benefits and would contribute to the EU’s strategy for growth and jobs."

Addressing the common situation of the EU and United States’ energy situation, Ambassador Bruton concluded "…that in order to ensure a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply, a common response is needed."

See the Source:
Ambassador Bruton’s testimony

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