WSJ: Juncker Pushes for Higher Energy-Efficiency Target

The incoming leader of the European Commission has waded into a dispute over one of Europe's key energy strategies at a time when the bloc is seeking to wean itself off gas and other energy imports from Russia.

Jean-Claude Juncker, who is to assume the presidency in November, has called for an ambitious target to improve energy savings when the proposal is unveiled Wednesday, pitting him against the current commission president, José Manuel Barroso.

Mr. Barroso and some of his senior aides, including his secretary-general, Catherine Day, are calling for an energy-efficiency target of between 27% and 29%, as measured against 1990 levels, out of concern that a higher energy-efficiency target could ruin the chance of securing a deal on a broader climate-change package in October.

But in a speech to the European Parliament last Wednesday, Mr. Juncker said "a binding 30% energy-efficiency target is for me the minimum."
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