Brussels, 09/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - After a month of intensive negotiations, the Commission, European Parliament and Council Presidency, at their sixth trialogue meeting on Tuesday 9 December, reached an agreement on a draft renewable directive, which will make up one of the four legislative texts of the Climate Change/Energy Package (see EUROPE 9798). On Tuesday, EP rapporteur Claude Turmes (Greens, Luxembourg) and the French Presidency succeeded in resolving the final outstanding issue - the review, in 2014, of the cooperation mechanism which allows several member states to work together on joint renewables infrastructure projects. They agreed that it would not affect the overall target of having renewable energy making up 20% of the EU energy mix by 2020 or national targets, and would not threaten existing national systems for giving financial support to the development of green energy, but would only be able to bring adjustments to improve them. On the basis of the EP proposals, the agreement provides for cooperation mechanisms that will allow member states to: - take part in one or more joint electricity generation or heating/cooling projects using renewable energy; - “statistically” transfer to their own national target energy generated in one member state (or a third country) in which they have invested; - partly coordinate national support systems. Negotiators also agreed on the controversial issue of the target of having renewables form 10% of energy consumption in the transport sector by 2020. The agreement provides for this target being reached through the use of biofuels, provided they result in at least a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with fossil fuels, together with electric trains and cars. The compromise now has to be formally approved by the Council and to be voted on in first reading in the European Parliament next week in Strasbourg. (E.H./transl.rt)