You're reading: European Union wants states to notify energy deals

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union wants its member states to share information on energy agreements they negotiate with non-EU countries.

The EU’s Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said Wednesday such sharing of information was necessary to improve the bloc’s energy security and make sure new agreements don’t break EU law.

He said that existing contracts won’t be affected by the new information sharing mechanism, which still needs to be approved by member states and the European Parliament.

However, the attempt to pull the bloc’s external energy relations closer together comes just as several countries are getting ready to re-negotiate energy deals with Libya and other states that have recently undergone regime change.