BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed in principle on Thursday to set a binding EU target for renewable energy sources but settle burden-sharing among member states later, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said.

"We have agreed that we need a target for renewable energy supply and that it will be binding, but it will follow a discussion on what that means for each member state," Reinfeldt told reporters after a first working session at an EU summit.

"The (German EU) presidency concluded that they would put out a text with the word binding in it," he said. The issue was the main point of contention in a long-term EU climate change and energy strategy due to be adopted on Friday.

AlertNet news is provided by