BRUSSELS, March 24: European Union leaders laid the foundations of a common energy policy on Friday, but failed to end a row over mutual allegations of state meddling to stymie cross-border mergers in the sector.

While any truly common policy will be many years in the making, the 25 leaders declared the accord a first step towards shielding the bloc’s 454 million citizens from future crises by pooling resources and negotiating power on world energy markets.

“I think one day when you (write) the history of European integration, we will say energy policy for Europe was born on March 23 and 24, 2006,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after a two-day summit in Brussels.

Rebutting sceptics who say the plan will fall foul of governments who guard national control over energy, Mr Barroso said the leaders backed 20 specific commission-backed measures.

They include new rules for storing gas and oil stocks, moves to boost energy efficiency, bolder targets for renewable energy and biofuels, and a common policy to deal with non-EU suppliers.

Against a backdrop of rising import dependence, surging oil prices and climate change, the plan gained urgency when Russia turned the tap off on Ukraine in a price dispute in January, briefly choking supplies to EU countries.

But while leaders said it proved the EU was capable of practical progress despite last year’s defeats for its proposed constitution, countries in a weeks-long row over state control of the sector showed no sign of backing down.

“When I hear talk of French economic protectionism, for me that is complete nonsense,” French President Jacques Chirac said when asked about the marriage between two giant French utilities brokered by Paris to fend off an Italian rival. —Reuters