Parliament calls for action plan on renewable energy sources
At a meeting in Brussels on 4 July 1996, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on a Community action plan for renewable energy sources. The report calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a Community action plan for the exploitation of renewable energy resources as a matter of urgency. The Parliament calls for the proportion of renewable energy sources used in the EU to be increased to 15% of all primary energy use by 2010. The Parliament also calls for consideration of renewable energy sources to be implemented in other Community policies such as regional policies and external programmes such as PHARE and TACIS (which provide aid to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union respectively). The report also calls for an increase in funding for Community RTD programmes concerned with renewable energy, such as JOULE/THERMIE, and the SAVE programme for the promotion of energy efficiency. Parliament calls for fiscal measures to be introduced to promote the consumption of renewable energy sources, as well as for an investigation of market restrictions and discriminatory practices which discourage the use of renewable energy sources. In addition, the report calls for public authorities to promote the use of renewable energy sources by example.