Brussels, 24/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to Jose Manuel Barroso on 21 November 2006, EU Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen set out a ten point action plan in the light of debate on European energy policy and climate change, calling for the EU to take a 'realistic approach' to targets for reducing CO2 emissions. He recommended 'an ambitious and realistic approach towards targets for emission reductions demonstrating environmental leadership that offers strong incentives for other big emitters to also make significant contributions in a way that does not undermine the competitiveness of the European economy.' The Industry Commissioner continued: 'We have to recognise that, during the transitional period where Europe moves forward but other big emitting countries are not yet taking sufficient action, our environmental leadership could significantly undermine the international competitiveness of part of Europe's energy intensive industries and worsen global environmental performance by redirecting production to parts of the world with lower environment standards… We therefore need to develop a specific framework for energy intensive industries particularly exposed to international competition… Possibilities that need to explored include binding international sectoral agreements, trade policy measures such as, for example, border tax adjustments and a dedicated state aid framework.' He also suggested a 'binding target for the share of renewables in the European energy mix coupled with a strong European framework for promoting renewables to create a genuine internal market for renewable production in Europe,' and for car emissions to be included in the EU's carbon trading system. (eh)