Brussels , 12 December 2008   At their Summit today, the EU Heads of State endorsed the 20% mandatory targets for renewables agreed on Tuesday and adopted a general principle of 100% auctioning of CO2 allowances in the power sector. The two measures will be forceful drivers for Europe's wind power industryaccording to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).  “The Heads of State commitment to domestic EU carbon reductions was watered down todaybut the 27 mandatory national renewable energy targetscombined with an effective price on emitting carbon in the power sectorwill give a boost to wind energy investments in Europe,” Christian Kjaer CEO of EWEAsaid.   "The EU has confirmed itself as the global leader in renewable energyparticularly windbut is losing credibility and leadership in the fight against climate change. The CO2 reductions agreed by Heads of State today will simply not bring about the necessary domestic reductions in greenhouse gases that scientists say we need," he said.   The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that to enable the global average temperature increase to be limited to not more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, emissions in industrialised countries must be reduced by 25% to 40% by 2020.   The agreement made today allows for at least half of the reduction effort to be met by external credits in non-EU countries. It means that the domestic reductions to which Europe commits are closer to 8% (and would increase to approximately 12% if an international agreement is reached next year in Copenhagen). That is too far from science to be credible.  Whereas agreement has already been reached on the renewables energy legislationthe climate part of the package is still subject to final agreement by the European Parliament which should happen on Saturday.   Please also read EWEA's press release on the renewable directive agreementissued last Tuesday: click here .    Isabelle Valentiny Communication Director isabelle.valentiny@ewea.org

EWEA - European Wind Energy Association 
tél: +32 2 502 19 81
fax: +32 2 546 19 44     Note to editors:

• EWEA is the voice of the wind industryactively promoting the utilisation of wind power in Europe and worldwide. It now has over 500 members from 50 countriesincluding manufacturers with a 90% share of the world wind power marketplus component suppliersresearch institutesnational wind and renewables associationsdeveloperselectricity providersfinance and insurance companies and consultants. This combined strength makes EWEA the world’s largest and most powerful wind energy network