Britain has told European Union energy ministers that it opposes European Commission plans to set binding targets on renewable energy generation, The Guardian reported on Tuesday. The daily cited a leaked position paper sent by Britain to the European council on energy, which meets on Thursday in Brussels, where the issue is set to be discussed.
According to The Guardian, the commission is proposing member states generate 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, while Britain has argued that countries need to be able to set their own targets.
"The UK fully agrees that increasing the use of renewables … is important to meet climate and energy security objectives, but we are not convinced that a mandatory renewables target is the best way of achieving this," the British document, which was originally leaked to charity Friends of the Earth, reads.
It goes on to argue that "member states should have the flexibility to deliver their own energy mix."
The British paper does back, however, some of the commission's other proposals, arguing: "The UK believes the commission has got the overall thrust of the proposals right and that the strategic energy review should be welcomed."
Source: Agence France-Presse
