Brussels, 22/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European leaders have agreed on a raft of guidelines to bring a common energy policy, which is still in its embryonic stage, into line with considerations based more on the competitiveness of the EU. The member states, which are going to have to speed up the liberalisation process in order to integrate their energy markets and step up their efforts to save money on it, have partially opened the door to a common approach to using unconventional sources of gas, such as shale gas, which is seen by many as a new Eldorado.
Although they feel that the common strategy set in place for energy matters is the right one to meet the challenges faced by all of their countries in terms of competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply, the European leaders, meeting on 22 May for a special summit partly dedicated to energy, implicitly recognised firstly the need to pick up the pace in order to make up for the delays in the implementation of this strategy and, secondly, the need to redirect the priorities of the energy policy towards the competitiveness of the EU, which has been hard hit by high energy prices.
On Wednesday, the issue of affordable energy was the European leaders' leitmotiv. Given the problems facing both households and businesses in the EU due to energy bills which just keep rising, the leaders' backs are to the wall and they are forced to act in the short term. “Households feel the weight of high prices. Industry finds it hard to compete with foreign firms who pay half the price for electricity, like in the US (…). Let me stress that the interests and the rights of consumers were central in our exchanges. We asked the Commission to analyse prices and their impact on households by the end of the year. In the end, people need to feel the difference”, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, explained to the press at the end of the summit.
In the short term, the EU must “fight on several fronts”, Van Rompuy stressed. José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, also highlighted four priorities as pillars of a “no regret scenario” given the “delays in the implementation of the right policies”, as he put it: completing the integration of the single energy market, which presupposes two political objectives - firstly the creation of common rules and standards by 2014 and, secondly, that no member state will be isolated from the European energy network after 2015; improving energy efficiency - “after all, the cheapest, cleanest and safest energy is the one not consumed”, Van Rompuy pointed out; investing in energy infrastructure, which - in addition to attracting private sector money in support of what Van Rompuy described as a “supplementing” envelope of EU funding in the order of €5 billion and earmarked for interconnections - presupposes guaranteeing a predictable framework over a period of 10 or 15 years for investors; diversification of supply, with an emphasis on domestic resources, such as renewable energies, but also on unconventional resources, such as shale gas.
A sign that mitigating global warming, a priority of the 2008 “energy and climate” package, has now been relegated to second place to the benefit of competitiveness, is that the door is now open at the highest political level to shale gas, which is helping the American economy recover, but the impact of which on the environment due to its extraction method continues to be controversial. This means that, although the choice of energy mix remains a sovereign matter, Poland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania, which wish to make use of the - currently hypothetical - wealth within their soil, and Germany, out on a limb due to its unilateral decision to come out of nuclear and is still undecided as to whether to use this form of energy, now have implicit approval at EU level. The message of the president of the Commission, where he himself and Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger are in favour of the carefully monitored use, in terms of the environment, of unconventional gases, is quite unambiguous: “in order to meet the energy challenges we are facing, there are many things that we can do, as long as we do them together”, stressed Barroso, pointing out that the “status quo is not an option”.
Swift measures in four priority areas. While confirming that the conclusions of its February 2011 meeting “remain valid”, the conclusions of the second European energy summit lay emphasis on the fresh efforts needed to ensure that the embryonic common energy policy does more to feed into growth and employment.
Although “good progress” has been made towards completing the single energy market by 2014 and developing interconnections to break the energy isolation of certain member states, greater efforts must be made to ensure, above all, that the EU legislation adopted for this purpose can be implemented. The countries which have not yet transposed the third liberalisation packet must do so as a matter of “urgency”. Similar efforts to implement other pieces of legislation such as the renewables directive and the regulation on the security of gas supply, resolute action in favour of the rapid development of smart networks and meters, and measures to “cover the basic needs” of vulnerable consumers have also been called for.
In the chapter on investment in energy infrastructures, priority must be given to implementation of the regulation on TEN-E and to the adoption of a list of projects of common interest. The same goes for the adoption, by end 2014, of a directive on deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels, revision of state aid aimed at facilitating investment in energy and the environment and the elimination of subsidies granted to fossil fuels, as well as the adoption of measures at national level and EU level, such as structural funds and strengthened support of the EIB to stimulate the funding of effective use of energy infrastructure and resources or the adoption of guidelines on the effectiveness of renewable energy support systems.
In the field of diversification, the EU27 argue for the development of local energy resources. In addition to monitoring the profitable deployment of green energies, the Commission is responsible for assessing opportunities for more systematic use of local energy sources and ensuring that they are used in environmentally friendly ways. Although not explicitly mentioned, non-conventional hydrocarbons, such as shale gas, are also to be examined.
Finally, in their concern to find an answer to the problem of high energy prices, the EU27 agree there is a need to improve energy efficiency, by implementing directives adopted to that effect. The Commission is expected to review the “eco-design” and energy labelling directives by end 2014. It is also expected to examine the issue of the relationship between gas and oil prices and present an analysis by the end of 2013 on how the structure of energy prices and the factors that determine them, with particular emphasis on households and energy intensive industries.
Merkel: different approaches to competitiveness. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a good thing that energy was on the summit agenda. “We have done the spadework to allow the single market to be strengthened. However, we have to admit there are different approaches to competitiveness” within the EU27, she commented, adding: “Germany is a pioneer when it comes to renewable energy. We shall see whether it is necessary to harmonise state aid but that will take time”.
Hollande: common rules on shale gas. French President François Hollande pointed out that the hydraulic fracturing technique “is unacceptable” in France where no exploitation authorisation has been issued. “France”, he said, “is therefore calling for common rules that are valid at European level to define what can be done and what cannot” when it comes to shale gas. He went on to say: “We shall not prevent any country from using shale gas” and no country must “ask us to give up nuclear power”.
Di Rupo: shale gas is geostrategic upheaval. There is heightened awareness and the resolve to move forward when it comes to shale gas, commented Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, saying that, only a little while ago, one only spoke of competiveness in terms of salary competition. This source of energy, he said, overturns the EU's energy geostrategy - it is a radical change and is a matter of countries' energy self-sufficiency. Europe is aware of this but the environmental issue is a major one, he commented, calling for all environmental precautions to be taken (our translation throughout). (EH, with AN, LC, MD/transl.af/jl)