The European Council meeting on energy policy in Brussels has come to an end. The conclusions of the Heads of State of the member countries are hopeful for achieving objectives that promote the use of renewable energies.

Greenpeace welcomes this important step towards a more sustainable future. European leaders have recognised that there can be no future without renewable energies and that the time has passed to postpone concrete actions to promote them. The Heads of State’s appeal to the European Commission is very clear: a proposal is needed now that sets out long-term objectives for the participation of renewable energies in the European energy mix. Taking this decision is vital to prepare the ground for a truly sustainable and competitive European energy policy. Greenpeace has long called for a mandatory EU-wide target to increase the share of renewables and energy savings to 25% of total primary energy by 2020.