Considering that:
•        Rising oil and gas prices, Europe's increasing dependency on a few external suppliers (mainly OPEC and Russia) and the emergency of global warming have restarted the debate on the need for a European energy policy
•        Europe is committed to respecting the Kyoto protocol
•        An external energy policy, as a part of foreign policy is still largely a competence of national governments, yet individual Member States cannot afford to act alone in resolving the energy problems they (will) face
•        A number of countries, notably known for their poor democratic record, such as Iran, Venezuela and the Russian Federation, are using their energy resources as a tool in their foreign policies
•        Europe (excluding Russia) has a declining amount of hydrocarbon energy resources in its territory and is therefore increasingly dependent on imports. Unless the EU can support the development of more sustainable domestic energy supplies, more of our supply will be imported and insecurity will increase
•        Creating energy insecurity is becoming a target of terrorist organizations
Noting that
•        EU heads of state and government broadly endorsed at their annual spring summit on 24 March 2006 a Commission’s Green Paper spelling out options to achieve “sustainable, competitive and secure” energy supplies in the EU
•        The G8 summit in St. Petersburg committed itself to achieving ‘open and transparent’ energy markets
•        The European Commission is making moves to integrate energy aspects into relations with third countries
•        The Barcelona process has made a clear target for an EU-Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010
•        The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has been welcomed by the EU as a way to ensure energy security and to relieve the energy dependence on mainly Russia and the Middle East

European Liberal Democrats ask for:
•        The urgent implementation of a common external energy policy to co-ordinate relations with external suppliers
•        An integrated approach to promote energy security so that environmental, political and economic aspects are taken into account
•        The Council of the European Union to reconsider the establishment of a single European energy regulator
•        The energy supply dimension to be added to the EU Neighbourhood Program
•        The energy supply dimension to be added to the agenda of the European Security and Defence Policy
•        The members of the European Union to complete, as committed, the Single European Energy Market by 1 July 2007
•        Stronger support for the transition to 4^th generation nuclear reactors and fusion reactors (e.g. ITER project) energy as part of a European Union energy policy
•        A substantial increase in funding for energy research and innovation, especially in the fields of renewable energy, sustainable energy and energy security as well as micro-generation and energy saving