EU United to Cut Reliance on Russian Gas

EU leaders paused their blame game on Friday to express the intention to promote an energy union, as a consequence of the stand off in Crimea between Russia and the West.

“We are serious about reducing our energy dependency. Europe was first built as a community for coal and steel. Sixty-four years later, it is clear we need to be moving towards an energy union," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in Brussels on Friday.

During the first debate on 2030 energy and climate policies, leaders of the 28-nation EU focused their attention on measures to cut reliance on gas imports from Russia’s Gazprom.

In occasion of the two-day summit in the European capital, they also decided to delay decisions on carbon-reduction targets until October.