Is Europe, long seen as the locus of sustainability and concern about global warming, starting to lose its resolve?

That is the concern of many environmentalists, as the European Union is changing its posture on some existing mandates, and appears to be poised to back of regulation of fracking techniques for oil and gas production.

According to Germany's respected Spiegel magazine this week, European Commission sources have long been hinting that the body intends to move away from ambitious climate protection goals.

At the request of Commission President José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission will later this month announce a change from its existing policy of setting legally-binding targets for both emissions reduction and renewable energy share, allowing member states greater freedom to set their own energy mix, reports from Europe are saying.

The Commission will extend only the binding emissions target, most likely setting a reduction level of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. This is up from the 20% reduction set for 2020. In contrast, the binding target for a 20% share of EU energy from renewable sources by 2020 will be downgraded to a non-binding goal of a 30% share by 2030, according to sources working on the issue.

While the 2020 target came with legally binding national targets that are enforceable through infringement action, the 2030 goal will not be broken down into individual national obligations, and thus lack the teeth of the existing mandate.

"European climate and energy policy may now be limited to just a single project: reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission plans also set no new binding rules for energy efficiency," Spiegel observed.

The change will allow countries such as France and the UK, for example, to opt for increased use of nuclear power capacity instead of renewable energy. The web site europeanvoice.com says EU countries are "increasingly pursuing divergent energy paths."

In addition, Spiegel says the Commission is planning to pave the way in the EU for the practice of fracking, which has been wildly successful in the US for oil and natural gas production but is greatly opposed by some environmentalists. The report says the Commission does not intend to establish strict rules for the extraction of shale gas, and will only adopt some minimum health and environmental standards as "guidelines."

Spiegel says Germany would like to get more aggressive with goals and enforceable mandates, but is losing out to other EU countries, many of which are still struggling economically. Rising energy costs have been a big issue of late in the EU, including Germany, as the existing environmental requirements have led to higher energy costs that hurt consumers and manufacturing competitiveness. That has ironically led to a growth in the use coal, often from the United States, for energy production because it is comparatively cheap, despite its high levels of CO2 emissions.

On the bright side, it appears that the EU will easily meet two of the three so-called 20-20-20 targets set in 2008. Those are obtaining 20% of energy from renewable sources, and a 20% carbon emissions reduction from 1990 levels, both by 2020. However, the third goal of a 20% increase in energy efficiency by that year will fall well short of the goal.

Green advocates think the EU plan is a short-sighted decision made largely due to the continued sluggish economy that characterizes most of Europe.

"We're only in 2013," said Brook Riley, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth Europe. "The 2020 policy was adopted in 2008. Let's not lock in insufficient ambition. This is happening purely because of short-term politics, because Barroso and Hedegaard [an EU commissioner] think this is the best they can do for the moment."

The Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) writes in a recent study that more moderate EU climate goals and less support for renewable energies could have a real impact on Germany's so-called "Energiewende" or energy revolution. "In such a context," writes the nonpartisan think tank, "it will be increasingly difficult for Germany to successfully carry out pioneering policies."

"Europe is clearly more Green than the rest of the world, but at the same time it sees what is happening in the US with regard to energy production and resulting manufacturing competitiveness, said TheGreenSupplyChain.com editor Dan Gilmore. "The economic benefits of fracking are tough to dispute.

Are you surprised the European Union is backing off its Green energy push a bit? How to best balance Green and the economy? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.