The European Union has reached a preliminary deal on a plan to increase the use of renewable energy by 2020, the European Parliament's lead negotiator Claude Turmes said Tuesday.
Members of the European Parliament met Tuesday with country representatives and European Commission officials and reached an agreement that will have to be approved by the parliament assembly and a majority of E.U. member countries. Tuesday's deal is a first step towards opening the way for new rules to turn the E.U. into a greener economy by 2020.
France, which holds the six-month rotating E.U. presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, want to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
They have made tackling climate change one of their top priorities and are seeking to lead international negotiations next year to reduce global warming.
"This agreement is a new dawn for a clean energy future that will benefit the climate and the economy," said Frauke Thies, Greenpeace E.U. renewables policy campaigner in a rare positive statement about E.U. environmental legislation.
The new rules on renewable energy will give each country a specific target of energy consumption that will have to come from renewables in 2020, to reach an E.U. average of 20%.
Representatives from E.U. governments and parliament had last week struck a preliminary agreement on rules governing the use of biofuels, which are part of the renewables plan. However, they weren't able to get a comprehensive deal because of Italy's request to have the possibility to review the rules in 2014.
Tuesday's agreement includes a review clause that is limited to certain rules, without undermining the overall 20% target, Turmes said.