MEPs and online commentators readily agree on pushing for energy efficiency, but deeper divides appear as discussion turns to the future of carbon, shale and renewables.

Energy security and efficiency: Europe's delicate balance

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Hello, and welcome to the Hangout, live  from the European Parliament in Brussels

its supply, its distribution,  and the guarantees, such as they may be,

that we're becoming more independent,  more green and more competitively priced.

Polish MEP  from the European People's Party,

and Bas Eickhout, Dutch MEP from  the Greens / European Free Alliance.

On the line by video from Slovakia  is Zuzana Lukáčová,

Head of Analysis  at Energy Analytics in Slovakia,

and from a different part of Brussels  Adrian Joyce, Secretary General

of the European Alliance of Companies  for Energy Efficiency in Buildings.

He's also Campaign Director  of Renovate Europe.

Welcome to you all. Anyone who follows  this issue is no stranger to the fact

that Europe has a huge dependency  on Russia for gas and oil.

No stranger also to what's been condemned  as Russia's naked aggression in Ukraine

So we'll start by trying to reconcile  those conflicting interests

as a succinct springboard  to a range of topics

which we'll cover  in the course of this programme.

how do you reconcile  Europe's energy needs

with the diplomatic pressures  it finds itself under from Russia?

It's quite a new situation, because we can  say that energy is also a political weapon.

And if we think about  an independent strategy

towards the Eastern part of our continent,

we should certainly be more independent,

especially if we tackle  the problem of Ukraine

and in particular Russia's aggression  towards Ukraine.

Thank you very much.  Bas, I'll turn to you next

I think what we see now  with Putin, Russia and Ukraine

Clearly we Greens have been warning  for a long period of time...

We said we want to become  more self-dependent in energy.

Over the last two years Europe has become  more dependent on fossil fuel imports,

not only from Russia, but also North Africa  and different regions of the world.

I think it is very important  that we become more independent,

which means more creation  of our own energy.

because we also have  a climate-change crisis ahead of us.

If you combine those issues, it's clear  what the European strategy should be now.

That is focusing on energy efficiency  and renewables,

and that's clearly the way forward.  We must push harder for that.

So more independence, more green energy.

Let's turn to our panel of guests  on video link.

Adrian, let me turn to you first. I know  this is a question close to your heart.

What's your take  on what you've heard so far?

And do you have any questions  for our panel of MEPs here in the studio?

Thank you, Paul.  When thinking about energy security,

it's clear to me that the message  that energy efficiency

was stated by the International Energy  Agency as Europe's first source of fuel

is something that must  be taken into account.

I don't know if the audience is aware  that last Wednesday, 18 June,

we entered the period in the year when  we are 100% reliant on imported energy.

We call it European  Energy Dependence Day.

I think if we're serious about  creating more independence in Europe,

we must look much more closely  at energy efficiency as a dynamic policy.

I wonder if the MEPs,  particularly Mr Buzek, agree

that we should be much more ambitious  on energy efficiency

as a first answer to energy security issues.  I'd be interested to know his viewpoint.

Absolutely right. I agree with you 100%.

I was rapporteur for the Seventh  Framework Programme for the EU.

but still it was valid until the end of last year.

The first point on our list of priorities  was energy efficiency,

in research and everything we needed to do  to improve our efficiency.

Bas, what's your take on this question  of energy efficiency?

It's interesting to see  that if we talk in general terms

about energy efficiency,  everyone agrees it's important.

But if we look at the policy-making  at a concrete level...

For example, last week seven countries  wrote a letter to the European Commission

saying, 'Please be more ambitious  on energy efficiency.'

It was signed by Denmark, Belgium,  Germany and other countries.

It was not signed by Poland, by Prime  Minister Tusk, who is from your party.

So why, if we all agree on it,  are we not going for the obvious solution?

We are now discussing a framework  of future energy policies for 2030.

The key aspect should be energy efficiency.  The Commission has not delivered on it

and now some Member States  are asking it to deal with that.

We've got a very big programme  for energy efficiency in my country,

which is even stronger,  concerning renewables.

We would like to improve that  in a much stronger and deeper way,

so that we do everything we can  with renewables in my country.

I don't know the reason why my government  should not sign something like that,

but it's clear that the idea  is good enough to support it.

Let's pause a second  and put this in some sort of perspective.

in terms of savings  in energy consumption in Europe?

And by extension how much  would that reduce Europe's dependency

on Russia, or other sources of energy?  -Let me interject, Paul, if I may.

If you looked just at the building sector

and you were able to capture  the full benefits

that we know exist in the building sector  for improving energy efficiency,

we could stop all imports  of Russian gas tomorrow.

That's the size of the waste that's going on  at the moment in the buildings of Europe.

There are three key sectors where  we can really deliver on energy efficiency