Brussels, 08/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the 2nd meeting of the Permanent Partnership Council (PPC) on Energy in Moscow on Friday, as part of their energy dialogue, Europeans and Russians agreed to increase their joint efforts to promote energy efficiency, acknowledging the massive challenges and mutual potential for saving energy, which they estimate at almost 400 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year by 2020. Both sides also stressed the importance to building mutual trust through improvements in the investment climate which would encourage infrastructure projects of common interest and would stimulate bilateral energy trade. They also agreed that it was necessary to identify ways of making their medium- and long-term energy policies more complementary. In this context, they recommended putting in place a mechanism for the mutual exchange of information and data to help understanding of their respective energy situations. The 2nd PPC for Energy, which was co-chaired by Finnish Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Russian Minister Viktor Krishtenko, devoted its time to examining the recommendations from the four thematic working groups set up last year on investment, infrastructure, trade and energy efficiency (see EUROPE 9041). Apart from the need to increase information exchange on strategies, forecasts and energy scenarios, and also to make progress in the implementation of a detailed list of actions as part of the joint energy efficiency initiative, these recommendations emphasised the importance of joint analysis of obstacles to investment on Community and Russian energy markets, particularly electricity, to promote their integration through reciprocal involvement of European and Russian companies along the whole energy chain. Finally, Europeans and Russians agreed the priorities for future work: the thematic working groups will be reduced to three and will concentrate on energy efficiency, market development and strategies/forecasts/energy scenarios. (eh)