06/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Rutte backs increased energy cooperation with emerging economies. The current state of energy markets and the possible impacts of low energy prices on the implementation of the international climate agreement reached at COP21 in Paris were the focus of a meeting between Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol in The Hague on 4 April, on the sidelines of an inter-parliamentary conference on energy and innovation organised by the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU. Rutte voiced “strong support” for the new “open doors” policy of the IEA, an autonomous OECD agency, towards deeper and wider-ranging collaboration between its member countries and emerging economies. Rutte and Birol also discussed options for the reform of the European emissions trading system (ETS) and ways to foster multilateral cooperation in innovative energy technologies. (EH)