Brussels, 08/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - In their meeting on 7 June in Brussels, members of the European Parliament and national parliaments debated the initiative for a European Energy Community which was presented at the beginning of May by former European Commission President Jacques Delors and supported by Jerzy Buzek, (EUROPE 10133). At the beginning of June, the president of the European Parliament began the debate with the presentation of the Delors draft to the European Parliament's energy and environment committees. The initiative has received broad support from both the European Parliament and national parliaments.
Buzek began the work of the inter-parliamentary meeting on Monday, by expressing his support for a fully functioning single energy market, using integrated networks, corrected by price stabilisation measures and complemented by innovation policies. The president of the European Parliament insisted that “we need to implement existing legislation and put some flesh on the bones," and called for political support from national parliaments and governments. The project advocated by the former president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, is based on several key action areas such as the interconnection of national energy grids, the establishment of a common energy fund for alternative and green energy R&D, greater energy efficiency in production and final consumption through changing habits, a single interface for EU relations with transit and producer countries outside the EU, and the setting up of oil and gas purchasing groups to buy from foreign suppliers.
The president of the Spanish Senate, Rojo Garcia, who is heading the inter-parliamentary work, together with president Buzek, considers that energy plays a fundamental role in the way the EU's structure is updated. “There is a real need for it now and it is quite urgent", he said. He also called for an energy policy to be "safe, clean and secure for the wellbeing of the EU and its citizens," with interconnected energy networks and reinforced energy market mechanisms.
Following this, the 250 meeting participants, including representatives from the presidency of the Council and the European Commission, discussed the initiative in the framework of three workgroups focusing on: energy security and diversification problems, solidarity and energy supply interdependency, the single market and competition, regulation and energy price questions, and renewable energies and clean technologies.
On 1-3 June, President Buzek gave a preliminary presentation of the European Energy Community initiative to members of the European Parliament energy and environmental committees, chaired by Herbert Reul (EPP, Germany) and Jo Leinen (S&D, Germany). Addressing the two committees, Buzek explained that the initiative sought to push forward the EU's common energy policy and complete the single energy market. He also affirmed that a stronger policy initiative from EU member states is needed to complete the European Commission's action, which is limited by existing laws. In order to obtain concrete results, the European Energy Community must be based on enhanced co-operation, particularly with regard to the interconnection of national energy grids, the creation of a common energy fund for financing alternative energies and the setting up of oil and gas purchasing groups to buy from foreign suppliers. In order to remove legal barriers that are likely to slow down the project, President Buzek called for “strengthened cooperation”, a provision in the Lisbon Treaty that would allow at least nine member states to push forward in a common policy, while others would be able to join later when they are ready.
In the industry committee, MEPs from the two main political groups (EPP and S&D) gave their support to the initiative as a whole and above all welcomed its strategic orientation towards investment for the modernisation of energy infrastructures. Nonetheless, they provide a warning with regard to possible legal and technical difficulties. The Greens were much more critical and underlined the shortcomings in implementation of existing legislation on the internal energy markets. In the environment committee, Leinen welcomed, on behalf of his members, the commitments to energy solidarity in the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the initiative from Delors and Buzek. Members of the environment committee also highlighted the importance of effective implementation of existing legislation and the need for increased interconnection between the EU's energy infrastructures, particularly for breaking the isolation of certain energy pockets. Finally, several MEPs highlighted the key role the European Parliament should play as an institution by leading through example and demonstrating that more can be done in order to improve its own performance and energy efficiency. (E.H./transl.fl)