Barroso: Europe working decisively on reducing energy dependency

The European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday that European is working "very decisively" on reducing energy dependency. He made the remarks at a press conference after the EU-U.S. summit and called the Ukraine situation a "wake-up call" for the European energy security and that the EU needs to become less dependent from energy coming from "difficult spots," indicating Russia. When being asked about what the United States could do in helping cut the EU's energy dependence on Russia, Obama said that the United States is a possible source of energy for Europe. "I think it's useful for Europe to look at its own energy assets as well as how the United States can supply, because the truth of the matter is that there is no easy free simple way to defend ourselves,there is no perfect free ideal cheap energy sources, every possible energy sources have some inconveniences or downsides," Obama said. Barroso said it will be good news that the United States put shale gas on world market, he called shale gas "blessing for the world" and also "blessing for the world." "We have opened a new gas route coming from Azerbaijan, we have improved many areas of the internal market, the interconnects," Barroso said, "we also have to do our homework in the European Union." Russia provides around one third of the EU's oil and gas and about 40 percent of that gas is shipped through Ukraine. The EU has stepped up efforts to reduce its reliance on Russia for years and one possible way to do this is through Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership which is under discussion with the United States.