EU urged to diversify energy sources

(BRUSSELS) - The International Energy Agency urged European Union nations Thursday to diversify their energy sources and speak with one voice when negotiating with suppliers such as Russia.

"The internal (EU) production of energy is declining and certainly it will continue in the future. It means that Europe will become more and more dependent on foreign supplies or imports," IAE chief Nobuo Tanaka said.

To counter that, he said the EU should diversify by turning to renewable energies, nuclear power or carbon capture, as well as doing its utmost to ensure it does not become dependent on too few suppliers.

"The matter of external relations with producing countries is perhaps the weakest of the (EU's) policy areas," he told reporters in Brussels.

"Member states seem to prefer to deal with supplier countries on a bilateral basis. But in the long run, this may mean that they will lose out by not using the full weight of the EU in the negotiations with their supplier countries.

"Relations to supplier countries should be better coordinated," he said.

He recalled that while the 27 European Union countries depend on Russia for around 30 percent of their natural gas supplies, Russia was reliant on the bloc for 70 percent of its needs, creating a "mutual dependence".

"In this case, the dependency on Europe is higher for Russia," he said.

International Energy Agency