Brussels, 20/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - In the light of the Ukrainian crisis and the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine, the European Council of Friday 27 June reaffirmed its determination to reduce the EU's dependency on energy from third countries, in particular, but without naming names, Russia.
With trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the EU over the settlement of the Ukrainian gas debt and the new price for Russian gas at a standstill, and the threat of interruptions to supplies of Russian gas for the EU transiting via Ukraine for winter 2014-2015, the European Council supported the immediate implementation of measures to reinforce energy security in the short term. The aim is to reinforce existing solidarity and emergency mechanisms, including gas storage, emergency infrastructure and reverse flows, as a priority in the most vulnerable member states, stressed the conclusions of the European Council. The member states also agreed to turn to other third partners to reduce the risk of interruptions to the supplies of natural gas in the short term.
Another warning shot across Russia's bows was that, although the EU will struggle to do without Russian gas, Russia must, for its part, observe competition rules in Europe. The European Council stressed the obligation upon energy infrastructure projects in Europe led by third countries to comply with European rules. “Relevant energy infrastructure investments, including those involving third countries, should be pursued in full respect of all the EU's internal market and competition rules, which must be consistently enforced”, the conclusions stress.
This message was clearly aimed at Russia and its gas pipeline project South Stream, which is managed by Gazprom with the involvement of the Italian energy company ENI and EDF of France, and which aims to connect Russia to Bulgaria under the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine, to serve the European market via two branches: the first, to the south, will go to Italy via Greece and the second, to the north, will go to Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, via Serbia and Hungary. The Commission, which has concerns about the compliance of the South Stream project with EU legislation, has blocked construction work on the gas pipeline in the member countries of the EU which are involved in the project, to give it time to examine this compliance. In early June, the European executive opened infringement proceedings against Bulgaria over its procedure for granting public procurement contracts in the framework of the construction work on the Bulgarian section of South Stream.
Against this backdrop, the European Council also called on the members of the Energy Community (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Moldova and Ukraine) to abide by the Community acquis and the obligations stemming from the legislation on the single energy market. This was an implicit message to a country which is both a neighbour and a candidate for EU accession, Serbia, which is also involved in the South Stream and is refusing to stop construction work on its soil.
On the basis of the energy security strategy prepared at its request and tabled by the Commission on 28 May of this year (see EUROPE 11090), and ahead of its October meeting, the European Council tasked the energy ministers with continuing their analysis of the measures needed to improve the EU's energy security in the medium and long term. In this regard, the European Council stressed the importance of energy efficiency, the development of domestic energy production and the integration of the single energy market, on the basis of a regional approach, increased transparency of the gas markets, and the construction of the infrastructure and interconnections not yet in place. The political deadlines for the completion of the single energy market and for ending the energy isolation of the countries which are remote from the European network remain unchanged: 2014 for the former, 2015 for the latter.
The European Council also confirmed that, by October at the latest, it will take a final decision on the new framework for the energy and climate policies up to 2030, including other measures aiming to reinforce the energy security of Europe and the interconnection objectives for 2030.
“One thing that is clear is that recent events in Eastern Europe have shown yet again that we need to truly 'Europeanise' energy policy, including notably its external dimension”, commented José Manuel Barroso. Welcoming the “broad agreement” between the member states on its strategy for energy security, the Commission President added that he awaited their “formal agreement” in October.
“The EU must reinforce its energy sector and its energy supply. Working together, we are stronger to deal with suppliers such as Russia”, commented the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte. The choice of energy provision “is a sovereign choice which belongs to each of the countries”, added François Hollande, when asked about the South Stream dilemma. “However, it is important for us to have a coordination”, the French President stressed. (EH, with AN/MD)