22/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Energy consumption in the EU rose by 1.9% in 1998, while indigenous production declined by 1.1%, indicated the Commission when it announced the publication of the 10th Annual Energy Review. The increase in final energy consumption in the 1990s was mainly due to growth in transport with overall industrial consumption remaining practically unchanged. In a press release, the Energy Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, interpreted this as showing the "pertinence of the proposed measures in the Commission's Green Paper on energy security of supply". The Review shows that natural gas consumption grew by 4.3% and renewable energies by 3.7%, but solid fuel declined by 0.3%. (A summary of the report is available from the Commission's website: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/energy/en/etf_1_en.html)