European Leaders Agree on Energy Plan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center right, speaks with French President Jacques Chirac, center left, during a group photo at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday March 8, 2007. European Union leaders have agreed to make targets for renewable energy binding, the Swedish rime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Thursday as the leaders met to work out a new, green energy policy for Europe. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe) (Yves Logghe - AP)

The nations are divided over the role of nuclear energy _ a technology that creates little CO2 but a lot of radioactive waste. At French insistence, the summit agreement noted the role atomic energy could play in replacing coal- or oil-fired power plants.

If EU nations fail to carry their weight, the EU's executive arm should be able to launch legal action at the bloc's high court that could lead to the imposition of heavy fines on countries that violate the targets.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon applauded the deal.

"The EU's moves can help put the world's energy systems on more sustainable footing. They offer business strong incentives to develop the advanced technologies that the world, and above all, the developing world needs to meet its energy needs while at the same time addressing climate change," Ban's spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in New York.

One independent expert said the renewable energy plan contained "a doable target" and called the overall agreement a policy landmark, showing that major polluting countries are taking action to resolve the problem.

The greenhouse gas plan is "an aggressive target but it's one that we would need to meet if we were going to be successful in averting further climate change," said John M. Byrne, director of the University of Delaware's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy.

The plan will also encourage the U.S. and other countries to join the EU goals. Byrne said that "if the EU hits targets like 30 (percent) they will become so much more competitive in a global economy that is becoming more environmentally sustainable compared to the U.S."

Environmental groups sounded a glum warning. Friends of the Earth called the mention of nuclear energy in the final statement "appalling."

"Nuclear energy is too expensive. Nations should invest more cleverly in developing other energy sources," said Jan Kowalzig, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth.

The Greens in the European Parliament insisted more needed to be done. "All credible scientific analysis shows that 30 percent is the reduction needed to avoid disastrous climate change," said spokeswoman Ulrike Lunacek.

The Kyoto accord requires industrial nations to cut their global-warming gases by an average 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Major EU economies have committed to cut greenhouse gases by 8 percent in that time, and want the United States to sign the treaty. The Bush administration has rejected Kyoto, saying it would hurt the U.S. economy.

The EU deal was a compromise between nations that had demanded mandatory targets on clean energy, and eastern European nations led by Poland and Slovakia that say they cannot afford to develop alternatives to meet such high targets. Those nations said they prefer to stay with cheaper but more polluting options such as coal and oil.

At the "green summit," many of the leaders were still ferried around in gas-guzzling fleets of big, black sedans.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair looked like an exception, pointedly strolling out of the courtyard of the EU summit center under the glare of TV cameras on Thursday night _ only to be followed up the ramp by his official motorcade.

The leaders agreed to ask the EU's executive arm to work out a plan to promote energy-saving light bulbs, following the example of Australia, Chile and other countries phasing out incandescent lamps.

"We are not saying they should throw out all bulbs in their house today, but everybody should start thinking about what's in the shops," Merkel said.

"Most of the bulbs in my flat are energy-saving bulbs," she said _ but acknowledged that "they're not quite bright enough, so sometimes when I'm looking for something that's dropped on the carpet, I have a bit of a problem."

___

Associated Press writers Paul Ames, Jan Sliva and Aoife White contributed to this report.