EU States Mull New Energy Policy, Guard Sovereignty
Date: 15-Mar-06
Country: BELGIUM
Author: Jeff Mason
The executive European Commission said last week the 25-nation bloc should adopt revised rules for storing gas and oil stocks, an "action plan" on energy efficiency, a new European regulator, and a common external energy policy.
The proposals, presented just months after a dispute between Russia and Ukraine briefly disrupted gas supplies to Europe, aim to address concerns about rising import dependence, high oil prices, and climate change.
"I felt support of the Commission proposal from all 27 participants of (the) energy council," Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said after the meeting of ministers from the 25 EU member states plus Bulgaria and Romania.
The Commission has limited authority in the energy field, and member nations have been reluctant to give it more.
But the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, coupled with projections that EU import dependency could rise to 70 percent in the next 20-30 years from 50 percent now, have added urgency to calls for more cooperation within the bloc.
"There's a lot of agreement about speaking with one voice in the energy sector," said Martin Bartenstein, economics minister of Austria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.
The ministers reiterated calls for a new energy partnership with Russia and pressed the resource-rich country to ratify the the Energy Charter Treaty, which would govern energy activity on the Eurasian continent. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss the EU's new energy policy proposals.
STATES' ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY
Bartenstein said further discussion was needed about a European regulator, which he said he supported. Energy heavyweight Germany opposes a common regulator, German Deputy Economics Minister Georg-Wilhelm Adamowitsch said.
Gas stocks would also be a tough issue for some states like Finland, Bartenstein said.
The ministers' written conclusions said an EU energy policy must follow a list of basic principles, including "fully respect member states sovereignty over primary energy sources" and "fully respect member states choice of energy mix."
The bloc's top leaders meet next week to discuss the proposals, which include boosting renewable fuel sources and energy efficiency measures.
The debate over energy comes as conflicts within the bloc's internal energy market - another area the Commission wants to improve - are rife with France, Italy, Spain and Germany tussling over proposed mergers in the utility sector.
Poland has called for even more dramatic cooperation much like NATO in the security field, though its ideas have not had a large resonance within the Commission.
"We are happy with the Commission's green paper. The problem is that it does not go far enough. We need something more," said Piotr Naimski, Poland's deputy economy minister.
Energy ministers called on EU leaders to support the development of a "common foreign and trade policy approach in support of energy policy objectives" and speed up work to create interconnections within the EU's internal energy market.
They also highlighted the need for "improving the functioning of gas market flexibility instruments, including storage capacities, access to networks and congestion management on the electricity market."
(additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski and Carsten Lietz)
