n°14 summer : Sommaire

EDITORIAL
FOCUS Decentralised rural electrification: is easing market restrictions enough ? On February 7, 2000 the World Bank brought a hundred or so experts together to discuss the problems of financing solar photovoltaic energy in developing countries.			KNOW-HOW Energy diagnosis : significant results After a grouped diagnosis operation, a company in the textile sector began to invest and is saving energy.
CASE BY CASE Integrating the whole life cycle of buildings The Green Buildings approach aims to reduce the impact that buildings have on the environment. The sociology of "sorters" A recent study closely examines user behaviour and the factors that encourage people to join in selective collection.			WORLDWIDE A new tool for promoting the French companies Conference on Renewable Energies Worldwide Web, Contacts

Editorial
	French presidency of the European Union France will be taking over the presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2000. This six months will be the occasion for the country to defend a certain concept of the construction of Europe. There will be an important political focus in this respect, notably with the institutional reform for a wider Europe provided for in the Amsterdam Treaty. As far as the environment is concerned, the Union's agenda will be marked by the continuing implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, culminating in the conference on climate change at The Hague in November. In addition to the fight against the greenhouse effect there will be sensitive files such as those on the framework-directives on noise and water, and the directives on electronic waste and scrap vehicles. As regards energy management, the priority of the French term will be the directive on producing electricity with renewable sources of energy. Several reports will be the subject of discussion or adoption, such as the "Action Plan for Improving Energy Efficiency", the Green Paper on urban transport, the revision of the White Paper on renewable energies and the European Programme on Climate Change. François Gréaume Head of the European Affairs Department