Brussels, 16/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Within the framework of the EU-US Summit in Washington at 3 November, the two parties will set up an energy council. The new transatlantic cooperation mechanism will meet once per year, alternately in the EU and the US, and will comprise, from the European side, the Commissioners for External Relations, Energy, and Science and Research, along with a representative of the Council Presidency, and, from the American side, the Secretaries of State and of Energy. The aim will be to complement the multilateral work on transformational energy technologies, such as under the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, by means of deeper Euro-American dialogue on strategic issues of mutual interest in the fields of energy and energy security at global level, and through increased cooperation on energy policies and on R&D into low-carbon energy technologies. The first meeting of the EU-US Energy Council, which will be largely procedural, will agree on a work programme and priorities for the period to the second meeting in 2010. According to a memo drafted by the Presidency and the Commission, the European side suggests that, given the post-Copenhagen conference context in which the second meeting will take place, it should focus, in addition to the work undertaken as part of transatlantic R&D cooperation, on issues of access to clean coal and carbon capture and storage technology, support for international bodies promotion of best practice in energy efficiency and renewables, such as IPEEC and IRENA, transparency on gas and oil markets, and dialogue with partners, such as Central Asia, Brazil, China, India, Russia and Ukraine, on climate and matching energy supply and demand. (E.H./transl.rt)