Brussels, 22/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The chief executives of four European energy companies - GDF Suez (France), Iberdrola (Spain), CEZ (Czech Republic) and GasTerra (Netherlands) put the Magritte Group's proposals for a new EU energy policy to the three main European institutions on Tuesday 21 April. The group, made up of eleven of the European energy sector's major players, calls for more convergence and integration of national energy policies. It also wants an early start (from 2017) of the proposed market stability reserve (MSR) for the EU carbon market and argues that renewables development should be market-based, driven by the CO2 market and competitive support mechanisms implemented at EU level.
In terms of energy security, the Magritte Group advocates (for gas) exploitation of domestic energy potential, diversification of routes, storage and LNG capacities. It also argues that confidentiality of commercially sensitive information contained in gas supply contracts should continue to be ensured. “Contrarily to ideas on grouped gas purchasing CEOs highlight the value of established commercial relationships with suppliers for the sake of security of supply”, it says.
For electricity, the group believes that regional approaches that seek to fulfill an EU-wide framework for both cross-border participation in capacity mechanisms and security of supply cooperation between system operators appear to be a “promising” solution for ensuring security of supply. It says it will be necessary to identify, region by region, the main barriers to completion of the internal energy market to look for harmonized approaches when tackling similar issues in different countries.
The Magritte Group says, too, that it is crucial to provide the electricity markets with sustainable signals that cannot always be delivered by the current short-term electricity markets. It should be recognised, says the group, that a mechanism for long-term signals can also be opened to cross-border participation. However, such mechanisms should not distort wholesale markets.
Lastly, to ensure fair energy bills, the Magritte Group says that energy bills should be fully transparent and cost reflective in all member states. The current high level of taxes and charges, which in some cases represent more than 50% of end customer prices, are reversing the recent positive steps taken towards market integration and price convergence between member states, it argues.
The Magritte Group also contains Centrica (United Kingdom), Enel and ENI (Italy), Eon and RWE (Germany), Fortum (Finland) and Gas Natural Fenosa (Spain). (Emmanuel Hagry)