Judy Dempsey reported from Berlin, and Dan Bilefsky from Brussels. *

As leaders of the European Union gather for a two-day meeting in Brussels on Thursday, countries are divided over how and whether they can forge a common European energy policy that will allow them meet growing demand in the coming decades and deal with Russia, one of the region's largest suppliers.

European countries are scrambling to put together a united approach toward ensuring secure energy supplies, a priority that gained new urgency after Russia temporarily cut natural gas to Ukraine in January over a pricing dispute.

But they are not being helped by a growing protectionist climate in several countries, led by France and Poland, and this will be another big issue at a summit meeting whose overarching goal is to track Europe's competitiveness.

It is on energy, however, where several differences have emerged. A number of countries are unwilling to give the European Commission more powers over the sector, while others are reluctant to open their markets to more competition. Still others want to take a much tougher stance against Russia, which supplies over a fifth of Europe's energy needs.

Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Poland have already put down their markers over what kind of energy policy they believe Europe should have after the commission last month issued a special energy strategy paper that sought to reconcile the different energy policies by the member states. Many EU members regard energy as a crucial national security issue that should not be put under the control of, or closer scrutiny by, the commission. Among the major issues are whether EU states would come to the aid of one another in the event of a supply shortfall, and whether to connect key transition grids that run to Europe.

Germany and Britain said this week that they favored more openness in the energy sector and more diversification of energy sources. With Britain no longer able to tap unlimited amounts of natural gas from its North Sea fields and Germany dependent on Russia for more than 35 percent of its energy supplies, both are seeking more diversification of resources.

France and Poland are less keen to throw open the sector to competition. Paris fears losing its "national champions," and Warsaw is concerned that Russia will end up controlling its energy sector.

"We support diversification because we do not want to remain so dependent on Russia," said Pawel Swieboda, director of the European Department at the Polish Foreign Ministry.

There are also differences over connecting the main energy transmission grid networks that feed gas into Europe from Norway, Russia and North Africa. Almost all the member states agree that these should be linked, but they cannot agree on the timetable or financing of such projects.

Another issue is access to national storage facilities, which are considered security assets. Several countries, particularly Germany and the Netherlands are reluctant to open up their storage facilities to other member states, unless in exceptional circumstances. But the European Union's energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said it was essential for member states to have access to storage facilities that are underused.

The commission is also facing resistance in establishing a regulatory authority for energy. Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is to open the debate on Thursday night, is expected to bypass the issue of granting powers to the commission and instead will focus on the need to diversify energy sources by opening up the energy grids and fostering much closer relations with countries from North Africa and the Middle East.

In an opinion article in Thursday's International Herald Tribune, the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said no country could pursue an independent energy policy alone.

"Throughout the world, peaceful economic development and energy security are inextricably linked," Steinmeier wrote. "Energy security involves the security of all stakeholders producers, transit states and consumers. This global dimension also means that national efforts alone are inadequate and that we must find an alternative to confrontational approaches."

Most EU countries support the German and commission position that producer countries and transit countries, particularly Ukraine and Turkey, should be included in wider European energy community. Swieboda, the Polish Foreign Ministry official, said that "Poland supports an energy policy in which the EU would include south-east Europe on the one hand as well as Ukraine and Turkey on the other."

But Poland's prime minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, is not expected to campaign for a European energy security treaty that would include members of NATO and would oblige signatory countries to assist another signatory in the event of serious energy shortages or a catastrophe.

His proposals received little support from several member states, including Germany. Instead, Poland, supported by the Baltic States, said it wanted the European Union to move quickly in reducing its energy dependence on Russia and adopt a much tougher and collective stance in dealing with Russia. But Germany and France said they were unwilling to isolate Russia, preferring instead to engage it in a long term energy relationship beneficial to both sides.