"The European Union's energy policy must combine energy, competitiveness, climate change and environmental perspectives in a balanced way," says Jouni Punnonen, an adviser at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

The Energy policy is one of the themes that will be in the spotlight during Finland's Presidency of the EU. EK will be seeking a real and balanced opening of the energy market and effective competition, both of which will have to be promoted resolutely.

"One key factor in securing sufficient, safe and reasonable-priced energy is diversified energy mix, which will also promote effective competition on the energy market," Punnonen says, describing EK's perspectives.

"Opening up the energy markets must proceed via markets that operate well regionally towards wider European markets."

"Energy efficiency and renewable energy are both cornerstones of the energy policy. The focus has to be in cost-effective and reasonable measures, which are based on rigorous potential and cost assessments. The promotion of wood in energy use has to be carried out in a way that it doesn't disturb other, non-supported wood markets."

"Relations between the EU and Russia should be developed further in order to attain concrete results. There must also be a closer energy dialogue between the EU and Asian countries."

Global approach needed

Finnish business takes combating climate change seriously. Climate change is a global challenge, thus the solution needs to be global too. All the countries that are important in terms of their emissions shall be involved. The coverage in the Kyoto Protocol is not enough.

"Future climate policy should be developed in such a way that it leads to a reduction of emissions globally and at the same time guarantees a level playing field for companies both inside the EU and worldwide," says Riitta Larnimaa, chief policy adviser in EK.

The EU's main means of preventing climate change is emissions trading, which has led in particular to increased costs for energy-intensive industry and weakened the competitiveness of players in relation to players outside the EU who do not have a similar cost burden.

"The EU should now concentrate to eliminate the detrimental effects on competitiveness that is caused by emissions trading."

Demand for energy-efficiency increasing

There is an ever-increasing need for energy-efficient technology worldwide, because the demand for energy is growing constantly, fossil fuel resources are depleting and the price of energy is rising. The development and introduction of technology has also a crucial role to play in preventing climate change.

"The growth in the demand for energy-efficiency is an opportunity for the numerous companies in Finland that can offer energy-efficient technology including combined heat and power production," says Jouni Punnonen.

Although energy efficiency is already at a high level in Finnish business life, it can still be improved, according to EK. One means is energy-efficient innovations, the intention being to link them more strongly with the upcoming third generation Energy Efficiency Agreement.

"The Energy Efficiency Agreement will provide good tools for a concrete improvement in energy efficiency. The EU should collect information about the best practices and disseminate this information. Finland's Energy Efficiency Agreement is a good example."

Nuclear power in Finland

Finland's nuclear power plants have been in operation since the end of the 1970s. Their utilization factors and reliability have been at an internationally high level throughout their entire operating life.

About a quarter (25.8%) of all the electricity used in Finland is generated by nuclear power. There are two nuclear power plants with a combined total of four plant units operating in the country. The construction of a fifth plant unit began in the summer of 2005. Olkiluoto 3 is at this moment the biggest construction job in Europe, and it should come on stream during 2009.

Nuclear power is an environmentally-responsible form of energy production that does not cause carbon dioxide or other emissions into the atmosphere. For that reason its usage promotes the prevention of climate change.

Olkiluoto 3 is at this moment the biggest construction job in Europe, and it should come on stream during 2009.