See also the conclusions of the European Council.

Preparations for the 4 February European energy summit have been made by MEPs. Together with EU Council representatives and the European Commission, they debated the strategic issues of energy policy for the future and the way forward for the European Union.

The Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council advocated a more integrated energy market. It focused in particular on research and development whilst stressing the importance of renewable energy.

The European Commission stressed the importance of enforcing existing legislation with a view to enhancing the internal energy market by 2014.

The Parliament’s political groups positions may be summarised as follows:

· European People’s Party (EPP) : another spectacle of disagreement between the European countries should be avoided. Measures taken as regards the European energy market should be enacted in order to boost growth and job creation.

· Social and Democrats (S&D) : the upcoming summit shall be the last chance for Member States to reach their energy goals and for them to discuss the issue of energy poverty in the EU.

· Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) : the crisis situation should be used as an advantage to move forward. The EU’s ambition is disappointing compared to the United States which is heavily investing in renewable energy.

· Greens : the EU should not commit itself by deepening its relations with certain regimes (Iraq, Georgia) strictly for energy purposes only.

· Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) : the EU should be more engaged in the area of energy security. The idea of a common energy market should be supported.

· European United Left/Nordic Greens (GUE/NGL) : energy is a crucial sector for creating new jobs. New energy sources should be exploited.

· Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) : bearing in mind rising oil prices, Member States should evaluate EU resources and their potential exploitation.

Debate in Parliament

The Council examined draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on 4 February 2011. The European Council will focus on energy and innovation. An annotated draft agenda was discussed by the Council on 22 November 2010.

The President of the European Council restricted the agenda to the items which will actually be examined by the European Council.

Energy : the European Council will discuss energy policy, including how it can best support the shift towards an efficient low-carbon economy and greater security of supply, including through a better integrated and interconnected energy market. It is expected to set orientations on improving the functioning of the European energy market, especially as regards key missing links, on promoting innovative solutions for sustainable energy and on ensuring effective coordination and coherence of the Union's external energy action. Innovation : the European Council will discuss how to boost Europe's innovation potential to tackle the most critical societal challenges Europe is facing. It is expected to set orientations in particular as regards completing the European Research Area, improving framework conditions for innovation, facilitating access to finance, and simplifying and rationalising EU programmes.

The conclusions of the meeting will be brief and will focus on decisions and general policies approved by the European Council. The draft European Council conclusions emphasize the need for further action at the EU level aimed at integrating the internal energy market, achieving energy efficiency targets and promoting investments in renewable energies, as well as improving the coherence of the EU's external action in the field of energy . The draft conclusions further call for implementation of a strategic and integrated approach to boosting innovation and for the completion of the European Research Area by 2014 to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation.

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