The European Union must start to consider how to shape its climate policy after 2020, its energy commissioner said Wednesday as he raised the curtain on a debate about the future of one of the bloc's most ambitious policies.

The EU has legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost the use of renewables and increase energy efficiency by 2020, but it only has indicative goals for the period beyond that date.

This situation, combined with uncertainty clouding the carbon market and risks that the energy efficiency target will be missed, are starting to raise concerns among investors who want clarity for the longer-term.

"Investors expect from us now, today, not in five years' time...to put forward ideas," Guenther Oettinger said during a press conference. "Decisions need to be taken about a framework for 2030, about possible binding targets."

In 2008, the EU agreed on ambitious binding targets to limit global warming, which it considered an example to the world. By 2020, 20% of energy used will have to be produced from renewable sources, CO2 emissions should drop by 20% compared with 1990 levels and energy efficiency increase by 20% compared with business as usual. It also agreed on an overhaul of the exchange trading system, or ETS, that starting next year will make more industries pay for CO2 emission permits rather than getting most of them for free.

But these ambitions have since clashed with the economic crisis, which has dramatically reduced any appetite for new climate goals that are often considered an additional burden on the economy. At the same time, the price of CO2 emission permits on the ETS has touched record lows, undermining its effectiveness and raising questions about its future.

This situation is raising a debate in Brussels about where the EU policy should go beyond 2020, as industries, associations and organizations that would be affected by the policy start to position themselves to influence the early stages of the policy making.

Oettinger explained that post-2020 options include a set-up built only around market measures such as the ETS, focused mainly on targets to reduce CO2 emissions, or one similar to the present layout, which also includes targets for increasing the use of renewable energy. He said he has at the moment a slight preference for the latter, but he still hasn't made up his mind.

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