Strasbourg, 29/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Giving its backing to the new energy strategy to 2020 proposed by the European Commission at the start of November, the European Parliament (EP) called for energy efficiency to be made a key priority. Completion of the internal market, the integration of renewables, improvement of infrastructure and the external dimension are also imperative.
In passing the report by Lena Kolarska-Bobiñska (EPP, Poland) by a wide majority on 25 November, the EP gave its support to the common energy policy to 2020 recently proposed by European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
MEPs say that energy efficiency must be at the top of the agenda as a “cost-effective” way of reducing energy dependency, tackling climate change, creating jobs and reducing energy bills. They call for the full implementation of existing legislation and call on the Commission to assess implementation. If its findings prove unsatisfactory, they say, then the forthcoming revision of the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan should include further EU measures for member states, such as individual efficiency targets designed to bring about overall energy savings of at least 20% at EU level, whilst taking account of national circumstances. The resolution reiterates the EP's call for 50% of homes to be fitted with smart meters by 2015 and 80% of consumers to be equipped with intelligent metering systems by 2020.
Parliament calls on the Commission and member states to step up work on EU southern gas corridor projects and especially the Nabucco Asia to Europe gas pipeline, and to promote the DESERTEC (clean power from deserts) and TRANSGREEN (low carbon and renewable energy networks) projects through the Mediterranean Solar Plan. MEPs also say that regional projects such as the “Mediterranean Ring” (grid interconnection) and the “Baltic Interconnection Project” should be promoted.
On the external dimension, the EP calls for the Energy Community membership to be extended to more EU neighbouring countries, and especially those in the Eastern Partnership. In terms of diversification, MEPs stress the importance of further expanding the European liquid natural gas fleet and call on the Commission and Council to work closely with NATO to align EU and NATO energy security strategies.
Buzek wants European Energy Community. Welcoming the Commission strategy and the vote passing the report by his fellow countrywoman, Parliament President Jerzy Buzek restated the wish he shares with former Commission President Jacques Delors for a European Energy Community. “A genuine deepening of energy policies in Europe would avoid multiplication and fragmentation. It would increase competition and the leverage of the EU as a whole in the international energy market. It would widen the options of consumers,” Buzek says in a press release. “An energy community would also mean legal certainty in a unified energy market; this would in turn result in a catalyst for investments. If we set ambitious goals in infrastructures, energy grids, research and renewables, we need to fund them adequately. Our resources and investments need to match our ambitions. The new European External Action Service can also serve as a powerful instrument to ensure that the energy policies and energy needs of the EU are properly safeguarded. We need to ensure coherence between our internal and external action,” he argued. (E.H./transl.rt)