EU-ASE addressed the letter to European Counsel President Herman Van Rompuy and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who holds the revolving presidency.  Companies including General Electric, Philips, Siemens, and Unilever want energy-saving be integral to the bloc’s new energy strategy for 2030.  According to EU-ASE, improving energy efficiency would be the best way to simultaneously shrink the carbon footprint, lower economic costs, and enhance the bloc’s energy security. 

A false choice

The letter reads: ‘We believe that the European debate should not be framed as if there is a choice between competitiveness and taking action on climate change…This is a false choice.  By improving energy efficiency Europe can drive forward its competitiveness, energy security and climate change objectives.’  At present, the European Council is undecided over whether to include strict energy-saving targets in their 2030 energy plan. Source: Business Green