Recital 3

(3)The Presidency conclusions of the European Council of 8 and 9 March 2007 emphasised the need to increase energy efficiency in the Union so as to achieve the objective of saving 20 % of the Union’s energy consumption by 2020, set targets for the EU-wide development of renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and called for a thorough and rapid implementation of the key areas identified in the Commission Communication of 19 October 2006 entitled ‘Action Plan for Energy Efficiency: Realising the Potential’. The action plan highlighted the enormous energy savings opportunities in the products sector.