Editor's note

Additional information on the EBS’ site: (http://www.ebsummit.org/index.html?page=0).

Energy and climate change are the world’s hot topics today. Enterprises, politicians and opinion leaders look for ways to fulfill energy needs and to innovate to reduce CO₂ emissions. Greening our economy is rightly a major priority for the European Union and the business world.

Among the participants are prominent EU politicians: Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, László Kovács, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Simon Brooks, Vice President, European Investment Bank, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, José Manuel Barroso, President, European Commission, Ernest-Antoine Seillière, President, BUSINESSEUROPE, Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Energy, Ján Figel’, Commissioner for Education, Jacques Barrot, Vice-President, Commissioner for Transport, and other prominent figures.

The EBS-6 is organised by BUSINESSEUROPE and the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, in close cooperation with the European Commission and the Slovenian EU Presidency.
With the theme “Greening the Economy: new Energy for Business”, the EBS wants to focus on how Europe can turn the “carbon challenge” into a business opportunity, giving new potentials for energy exploration to growth and jobs. At the 6th EBS in 2008, business and political leaders, NGOs, media and academics from numerous countries will share visions and solutions in the area of climate change, energy and (eco-) innovation.

Another event deals with the renewable energy support. The development of renewable energy sources (RES) is a central aim of the European Union energy policy. In the Green Paper "Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply" from 1997, the European Commission has set an objective to increase the share of renewable energy of total energy consumption from 6% in 1997 to 12% in 2010. The RES-E directive supports the overall 12% target through setting a target of 21% share of electricity produced from renewable energy source of overall electricity consumption by 2010 in the EU25. A target of minimum 5.75% fuels placed on the market based on biofuels or other renewable fuels by 2010, in line with Directive 2003/30/EC on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport, has also been adopted by the EU-27 Member States.  

PROGRESS (Promotion and Growth of Renewable Energy Sources and Systems) is to provide the EU decision-makers and European business community with inputs necessary for analysis and implementation of the achievements in national and Community targets under Directive 2001/77/EC towards 2010. PROGRESS is a final conference (it runs from 2006) with the task to monitor the developments in the promotion and penetration of renewable energy, and to formulate appropriate guidelines or actions if required to meet the targets set. It is orginised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and Transport and will take place in London on 25 February.

PROGRESS has the purpose to include market analysis of renewable energy sources into the member states’ policies to promote renewable energy, analysis of administrative, grid and other barriers to promoting RES and analysis of the implementation of a system of guarantee of origins in Member States. See additional information on: http://www.res-progress.eu/index.php?action=home&lang=NL.

All documents of the energy package released by the European Commission on 10 January 2007 can be found on http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/index_en.htm.