Brussels, 08/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Although it may boast of the support it has from Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (EPP, Poland), the Commission communication on energy supply security and international cooperation, published on 7 September, has caused polemic at the European Parliament among the ranks of the Greens and British Conservatives.
No sooner presented to the press than the new strategy set out by the European executive for EU energy relations with third countries received endorsement from the president of the Parliament, Jerzy Buzek of Poland, who welcomed the fact that the Commission “takes up many ideas” from the communication setting out the proposal that he defends, with Jacques Delors - that of a European energy community. “The European Union must present a single interface in its relations with its external partners, both the energy producer and transit countries. The EU must have the ability to pool its supply capacities and to engage in coordinated energy purchasing, should the need arise. In the long term, if we are faced with a major energy crisis, common strategic reserves must be available, and managed throughout the continent in a spirit of solidarity. These ideas are reflected in the Commission communication”, Buzek says. He supports the idea of a mechanism for increased transparency and information exchange on member states' bilateral energy agreements with third countries. The Parliament president also upholds the idea of EU-level agreements with third countries. “At a time when northern Africa, and in particular Libya, is changing so fast, we must stand ready to deepen our cooperation away from only oil and gas towards renewable energy. The EU must boost partnerships for secure, safe, sustainable and competitive energy. The EU must extend its partnerships”, Buzek went on to conclude.
Like Buzek, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski sees the new Commission strategy as a “step in the right direction” for improving the functioning of the internal market and increasing energy security. “With the impetus provided by the Polish EU Council Presidency and with a constructive contribution of the European Parliament, this is the EU's opportunity to develop a truly proactive energy diplomacy”, he states, congratulating the Commission for having taken into consideration the recommendations set out in his 2007 report on a common European foreign policy on energy. With Parliament's endorsement, Saryusz-Wolski submitted the idea of creating a solidarity mechanism for allowing the EU to act effectively in crisis situations. He supports the role that the Commission reserves itself for verifying the compatibility of all present and future energy agreements between member states and third countries with interior market rules, and also supports the Commission proposal to assist capitals in negotiating energy contracts with third countries. An example of this was the support afforded last autumn to Poland for renewing its gas contract with Russia.
The Greens see things differently. They reproach the Commission for not defining any strategy for reducing dependence on fossil fuels in the EU. “Instead of seeking to cure Europe's damaging addiction to fossil fuel imports, the Commission is persisting with a strategy aimed at feeding our habit. Today's communication is preoccupied by an antiquated approach looking to ensure fossil fuel deliveries” from exporting countries, sometimes overestimating their reserves. Without effective energy measures, such countries run the risk of running out of energy, said Claude Turmes of Luxembourg. Yannick Jadot put in that, at a time when energy prices are hitting the roof and when Europe is concerned for its energy supplies, the Commission still sees its external energy policy solely from the angle of producing more or building more pipelines. On the contrary, the best way to ensure security is to consume less and to produce energy locally, he adds, saying it would be of key importance for capitals to coordinate their external energy policy to establish partnerships with countries developing green technologies such as China or Japan which are already in the lead in the sector of green innovation and investment. This, he went on, is also the most appropriate response for accompanying the democratic changes and economic development of countries south of the Mediterranean. He said that 20% of energy efficiency in Europe by 2020 would be equal to the supply of 15 Nabucco gas pipelines! Energy efficiency and renewables must be at the base of the EU's energy cooperation, he stressed.
British conservative MEPs, headed by Giles Chichester, vow to “fight a European Commission bid to control and vet all major energy deals between EU states and other countries such as Libya or Russia”. “Our energy arrangements are Britain's own business, not the Commission's. This is an attempt to control and interfere with our individual trading interests on a new and deeply worrying scale. The Commission is up to its old empire-building tricks. The proposals pose all sorts of worrying questions about business confidentiality, commercial sensitivity and the fairness of any bidding process. (…) It is the worse kind of meddling by the Commission's control freaks”. Chichester went on: “This is on a par with the proposal from his predecessor in the Prodi Commission to intervene on oil stocks”, a proposal that was rejected. (E.H./transl.jl)