European Union countries need to coordinate energy policy to ensure political independence and economic development in the bloc as a whole, even if that means giving up some national control, the chairman of the Italian utility Enel SpA (ENEL.MI), Wednesday.

"A European energy policy is an essential component of the answer to the risk of de-industrialization [in the EU], said Paolo Andrea Colombo at a conference in Rome .

Coordination at the EU level would give energy companies more leverage in negotiations with natural gas suppliers as they would benefit from the protection of a policy covering all 27 EU nations, said Mr. Colombo.

In particular, he called for an EU-wide approach to energy distribution involving more links between countries.

For example, he said, Spain has a large capacity to import liquefied natural gas but can't export it to France because of the lack of connections between energy grids.

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