Strasbourg, 17/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption in plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 17 June, of the report by Herbert Reul (EPP, Germany), the European Parliament approved the Council draft decision on the EU's accession of the EU to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA, an initiative by Germany, Denmark and Spain which came into being at the start of 2009 and has an annual budget of $25 million, seeks to promote renewable energy throughout the world. Its task is to provide fresh impetus worldwide to speed up the transition to forms of non-fossil fuel energy generation with inexhaustible resources. IRENA assists and advises states on the development of renewable energies and supports the transfer of technology and funding from North to South. To date, 144 states and the EU have signed the statute of the Agency. (E.H./transl.rt)