EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday deplored the divisions within the European Union on energy issues and called for a united external policy.

The issue will be high on the agenda at an EU summit in mid-December and in talks with other nations, but nonetheless "we do not have an external energy policy for Europe," he told an EU energy conference in Brussels.

"Too often we have ended up divided or defending a line which is frankly a lowest common denominator. That has to change," Solana said, "If we are not able to promote a unified and substantive position on this issue, partners will run rings round us".

Even the EU's internal energy policy was not being fully implemented, he said, setting the aim of sorting the situation out by next March.

As regards Russia, the European Union's biggest provider of hydrocarbons, the question is "how far are we ready to go in terms of reciprocity concerning investments?"

Russia is "investing heavily in future leverage but not enough in future production," he argued.

In the wider context Solana opined that the growing importance of energy questions were complicating the European Union's external relations.

"The days of easy energy are over," he said.

Overall world energy consumption is set to increase by well over 50 percent over the next 25 years, he said.

"Our energy needs may well limit our ability to push wider foreign policy objectives, not least in the area of conflict resolution, human rights and good governance," said Solana

"We may have to deal increasingly with governments whose interests are different from our own and who do not necessarily share our values," he added.

"Sitting on huge reserves of oil and gas gives some difficult regimes a trump card," said Solana. "They can use energy revenues for purposes which we may find problematic".

However the EU chooses to deal with such regimes "others will put their energy needs above everything else. The scramble for energy risks being pretty unprincipled.

"That is likely to make it more difficult to secure support from key partners for our wider policy objectives."

Examples of this, he said, were EU efforts in Darfur and Myanmar and the role that energy plays in the calculations of China, India and others.