Brussels is drafting a strategy on clean and fuel-efficient cars to be published in May. The strategy will be followed with measures intended to help introduce clean cars into the European market.

"A European strategy on clean and energy-efficient cars should be developed and implemented (to set) out the necessary actions to encourage market introduction of green vehicles, including electric cars," the commission said in a statement issued after a Friday meeting between Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani and economic ministers from the 27-member body.

Europe hopes for a green technology boom to turn around Europe's economy, which hasn't fully recovered from the global downturn.

The continent's car makers -- which include giants such as Germany's Volkswagen, France's Peugeot-Citroen and Renault-Nissan, as well as Italy's Fiat -- have long called for an EU-wide stimulus package that provides billions of dollars in loans for the development of environmentally friendly cars.

While electric cars are poised to get most of the attention, an EU diplomat told news Web site Euractiv.eu that the European Union's communication would address all technologies, including hydrogen and biofuels.

The sustainable-mobility market is set to grow significantly, boosted by ambitious national and European emissions reduction targets and an eagerness to reduce dependency on imported oil.

Germany, home to the world's biggest car industry, hopes to dominate the clean car market.

The German government last summer unveiled a national strategy to have 1 million electric cars cruise its Autobahn highways by 2020.

"In 2030, this could be over 5 million. By 2050, traffic in towns and cities could be predominantly without fossil fuels," the National Electric Mobility Plan reads.

It earmarks $700 million for sustainable mobility research and development, including programs to develop the charging station infrastructure and boost battery technology, an area of expertise that has long belonged to Asia. The plan also mulls a $7,000 rebate for Germans buying an electric car starting in 2012, and it earmarks money for eight model regions aimed at learning about driving patterns and how to best integrate electric mobility into the German electricity grid.

But the country's carmakers are a tad late to the green game, with the first German electric car expected to enter the market in 2012.

Renault could have one ready early next year. The French car giant has teamed with Better Place, the company founded by Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, to snatch first-mover advantage when it comes to electric vehicles.

Their concept is aimed at extending the limited range of electric cars with a network of battery swap stations to be built by Better Place in several countries.

In Europe, the Better Place battery-swap model will be first tested in Denmark, a small country with a well-connected road system and a lot of green idealism.

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