France, as the next head of the E.U., faces the challenge of adopting clean fuel and finding new energy sources. An overhead network of gas pipelines at a refuelling terminal in Lille. Almost 100,000 tonnes of local organic waste is treated annually to produce biogas which is used to run 75 per cent of the city's public buses. IN July, France will be taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union (E.U.) for a period of six months. The responsibility comes at a crucial time. The high oil prices, the present and future projections of global geopolitics, and the E.U.'s resolve to adopt clean fuel make it clear that the challenge before France is not only to secure sustainable competitive, secure energy sources for domestic use but also to resolve national disparities at a pan-European level. In the context of protecting Europe from external energy crises and in achieving secure and clean energy supply, a diverse mix of energy sources would be the best path to follow. In effect, this would mean an attempt to coordinate energy policies with other member-states, no easy task given the fact that energy-related decisions were taken unilaterally before the E.U. was formed. There is, however, one common factor in the current situation that binds E.U. members