EU leaders to make Europe change lightbulbs

By Paul Taylor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European homes, offices and streets will have to use energy-efficient lighting by the end of the decade, EU leaders decided on Friday.

The decision to order a massive switchover that will affect the lives of all the European Union's 490 million citizens came at a summit of the 27-nation bloc as part of an ambitious green energy policy to fight climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who chaired the summit, told a news conference: "We're not saying people should throw out all the bulbs in their house today but people should start looking at what's in the shops.

"Most of the light bulbs in my flat are energy-saving bulbs. They're not yet quite bright enough. When I'm looking for something I've dropped on the carpet, I have a bit of a problem," she joked.

The leaders asked the executive European Commission to come up with proposals for saving power in office and street lighting by 2008 and in homes by 2009.

The decision, hailed by environmental campaigners, is a potential business opportunity for manufacturers such as Philips

and Siemens-owned Osram but risks stirring Eurosceptical complaints about EU meddling in citizens' lives.

The summit set a target of increasing energy efficiency to save 20 percent of the EU's energy consumption by 2020 compared to projected use.