The European Union urged Russia and other neighbors Monday to commit to long-term energy contracts that will guarantee them customers and investments while securing affordable oil and natural gas supplies for the EU in the decades ahead.

The appeal, on the first day of a two-day conference of officials from the 25 EU nations and oil and gas exporting countries, underscored Western Europe’s desire to make energy a top priority at a time when its demand is growing, its own supplies are dwindling and world prices are high.

In March, the executive European Commission is to unveil an energy policy that will commit the 25-nation EU to greatly diversify its sources and types of energy, develop more renewables and boost energy savings while acknowledging it will continue to depend on often unstable, undemocratic nations to provide energy to fuel Western Europe’s growth.

The global search for energy — driven by the spectacular rise of China and India — must force the EU to greatly diversify its energy imports, Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign and security affairs chief, told the conference.

If not, energy-rich but unstable nations in Africa and elsewhere will become even more immune to change.

“The scramble for energy risks being pretty unprincipled,” Solana told an EU energy conference. “However we choose to deal with such regimes, others will put their energy needs above everything else. Overall world energy consumption is set to increase by well over 50 percent over the next 25 years.”

Solana said Myanmar and Sudan were “good examples” of two poor nations that get away with resisting change because they have oil, but do so at the cost of human rights and other democratic principles.

The EU now imports about 50 percent of its energy. “Without policy reform, this will rise to 70 percent” over the next 25 years, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, told the conference.

He is overseeing the drafting of a credible energy policy for the union which is the world’s largest importer and second largest consumer of energy in the world.

“The European Union needs an integrated European Energy Policy that maintains Europe’s competitiveness, safeguards our environmental objectives and ensures our security of supply,” said Barroso.

Key to that is Russia, which EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called a “key strategic partner” whose sale of oil and gas to the EU has helped fuel the country’s economic revival.

In turn, “the stable flow of reasonably priced energy has been an important factor underlying the EU’s economic growth and well-being,” Ferrero-Waldner said. “It is this ‘win-win’ situation which both sides must work to reinforce.”

The EU argues this means producer nations must commit to fair trade in energy production and transit so as to secure investor confidence and guarantee environmentally safe, predictable, long-term deliveries for the decades ahead.

Facing the prospect of importing 70 percent of its energy over the next 15 years, the EU wants to shore up relations with reliable energy exporters while looking for new partners and new routes.

Russia now supplies a quarter of Europe’s oil and over two-fifths of its gas. But EU-Russia relations are troubled by EU human rights complaints and Moscow’s efforts to secure access to Russian oil and gas primarily for Russian companies.

Unless Moscow changes its stance, Poland may veto the start this week of an EU bid to get Russia to commit to fair trade principles in energy. The Polish veto threat also stems from energy supply fears as well as a Russian ban in imports of Polish meat and plant products.

The EU threw open the doors to energy players at the Brussels conference attended by officials from Norway, Ukraine, Nigeria and Azerbaijan, and executives from energy companies Gazprom OAO, E.On Ruhrgas AG, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC.

It was the first time the EU has placed itself as the voice of Europe on energy issues, taking over from individual efforts from its 25 member states as they struggle to deal with a more complex international scene.

However, European leaders must still decide in March what powers they will give the European Commission to negotiate on their behalf. The commission sees clear benefits from taking charge of energy policy.

“As a Union we are a major customer for suppliers and as consumers we have considerable purchasing power,” Ferrero-Waldner said earlier. “We should ensure that we work together to get the best deal and the strongest energy security for all Europeans.”

That includes firming up trade relations with neighbors who supply or transport Europe’s energy. As part of that effort, EU energy chief Andris Piebalgs will meet Monday with Ukrainian officials and Egyptian energy and petrol ministers.

At the same time, the EU will launch talks on a trade and investment deal with Iraq that aim to stabilize the troubled oil-rich country.

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