A late Christmas gift from the Commission

The BIG energy package

Is said to be delivered in less than a week, i.e. January 10, and the guessing game is on. The French paper Le Monde has already wished for some sort of statement as regards nuclear power. If the delivery follows normal tradition one may assume that there will be a little bit for everyone including the fossil fuel industry if the can live with CCS as a remedy for their emissions.

It would be astonishing, however, if not energy efficiency will be the big theme given the clashes from October 2006 that preceded the publication of the efficiency action plan and the calculations that the IEA has made showing energy efficiency as THE important contributor to reduction of GHG and establishing sustainability

So the crucial issue will hardly be the contents of the package but how the receivers play with the pieces they will be handed. You may want to follow the development of that game on the web-site for the presidency of Germany