Brussels, 07/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Whether by coincidence or accident of timing, the Commission unveiled its strategy to counter the dominance of Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, on Wednesday 7 September, the day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inaugurated the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which will take Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, avoiding Poland and the Baltic States, and Gazprom made official the signing in mid-September of the South Stream gas pipeline, which will carry Russian gas to Europe via the Black Sea, thus by-passing Ukraine. EU member states will be required to obtain Commission approval for contracts signed with non-EU energy supplier countries.
In its communication adopted on 7 September, which lays the foundations of a comprehensive strategy for EU energy relations with third countries, the Commission presses member states to improve coordination in identifying and implementing clear priorities in external energy policy. “The EU must extend the achievements of its large internal energy market beyond its borders to ensure the security of energy supplies to Europe and foster international energy partnerships. Therefore, the Commission proposes today a coherent approach in the energy relations with third countries. There is a need to improve internal coordination so that the EU and its member states act together and speak with one voice”, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger told press on Wednesday. He highlighted the threats of shortages which bring increasing pressure from third countries to bear on member states to accept concessions which do not comply with European competition law. The Commission, which has adopted an arms' length approach to the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is supposed to bring gas from Central Asia to the EU via Turkey, and skirting around Russia, has been careful not to criticise the competing Nord Stream and South Stream projects which are being driven by Gazprom in consortia which contain European groups - Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15.5% each), Gasunie of the Netherlands and EDF of France (9% each) for Nord Stream, and ENI of Italy (20%), and Wintershall and EDF (15% each) for South Stream - but indirectly accuses Gazprom of regulating the amount of gas that passes through its pipelines. This is something Community law seeks to prevent by requiring that energy operators' production and distribution activities be separate from transport and grid activities in order to ensure competition of European electricity and gas markets.
The proportion of imported energy in the EU - currently 80% for oil and over 60% for gas - continues to rise. National decisions and bilateral agreements between member states and third countries have a significant impact on the development of energy infrastructure and energy supply to the EU as a whole. EU interests need, therefore, to be better promoted in relations with both transit countries and energy producing countries. At the same time, new patterns of supply and demand in global energy markets and growing competition for resources also make it necessary to exercise the combined weight of the EU in external energy relations. The Commission, then, is proposing to beef up the external dimension of EU energy policy through improving transparency among EU member states on their energy agreements with third countries and strengthening coordination when approaching partner countries.
The strategy lists some 40 concrete initiatives. Flagship proposals: (1) Member states have to share information about international agreements with third countries in the field of energy. This includes agreements which are still under negotiation. On a case-by-case basis, the Commission may provide an opinion on the compliance of these agreements with EU law and with the EU security of supply objectives. (2) Energy agreements with third countries could also be negotiated at EU level, where necessary, to achieve the EU core objectives. This is the case for an agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, which will carry gas from Central Asia directly to Europe during the construction of the Nabucco pipeline to which it may be connected. (3) The EU will propose a new partnership on renewable energy projects with the Southern Mediterranean countries. (4) The EU will advocate international legally binding nuclear safety standards in multilateral discussions, including under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and will seek to extend nuclear safety assessments to EU neighbouring countries. EU development policy will include a greater emphasis on improving access to sustainable energy for the least developed and developing countries.
Alongside the Communication, the Commission proposes a Decision setting up an information exchange mechanism for intergovernmental agreements in the field of energy between member states and third countries. This will extend and complement the notification procedure already applicable to gas agreements to all forms of energy and will provide for an instrument for the exchange of information at EU level before and after negotiations with third countries. (E.H./transl.rt)