Brussels, 24/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The demands submitted by MEPs during a plenary session debate on the first State of the Energy Union review on Tuesday 24 November in Strasbourg include: ensuring a balance between the EU's decarbonisation targets and industry competitiveness, fighting against energy poverty, guaranteeing the EU's energy security by ensuring diversification of supply, developing interconnections and integrating the internal energy market, as well as focusing more on renewable energies and innovation.
The Vice-President of the Commission, Maros Sefcovic, was responsible for steering the project through and highlighted the four guidelines for the Commission action programme in 2016: continuing the EU's transition to a low carbon economy, while at the same time maintaining its global leadership in this area; ensuring that this transition is fair at a social level and centred on consumers; examining the geopolitical problems linked to the EU's security of supply; building the basis of a solid system of governance to help the EU reach its long-term energy and climate objectives.
Sefcovic also provided an answer to the objections reiterated on Tuesday by many MEPs regarding the Russian project to double capacity from the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. He promised that the Commission would ensure that new infrastructure projects fully respected Community law. He also highlighted the importance the EU attached to the gas transit route going through Ukraine.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Krisjanis Karins from Lithuania and Françoise Grossetête from France highlighted the need to protect (at the same time as reforming the carbons market) the competitiveness of EU industry, particularly that of the steel industry and not to provoke delocalisation to countries where rules are less strict on CO2 emissions. Karins, backed by Jerzy Buzek from Poland, called for them to ensure that energy infrastructure projects responded to the EU's needs and that Nord Stream-2 complies with EU rules. Grosstête called for better governance in the energy and climate arena, a better organised electricity market and increased regional cooperation.
Speaking on behalf of the S & D group, MEP Dan Nica (Romania) called for an integrated internal energy market that guaranteed security of supply, decarbonisation and the transition to an efficient energy system based on renewables and clean technologies. Nica also emphasised the fight against energy poverty. Matthias Groote from Germany called for a robust system of governance and binding objectives, as well as concrete measures for ensuring energy efficiency.
Speaking on behalf of the ECR group, Iain Duncan, from the UK, gave a lukewarm welcome to the State of the Union and highlighted the need for Carbon Capture and Storage projects (CCS). His Czech colleague, Evzen Tosenovsky, asserted that Nord Stream-2 was perceived “as a threat” and emphasised that nuclear power should be respected as a source of highly decarbonised energy. He also insisted on the need to maintain the European industry's competitiveness during the decarbonisation process.
Speaking on behalf of the ALDE group, Morten Helveg Petersen, from Denmark, called on the member states to do more to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels and to decarbonise the economy, while highlighting the need to ensure competitiveness in Europe.
Claude Turmes (Luxembourg) spoke for the Greens/EFA group and criticised the lack of global vision from the Commission, as well as the absence of more ambitious and binding objects up to 2020 with regard to renewables and energy efficiency. His Swedish colleague, Peter Eriksson and Bas Eickhout, from the Netherlands, called for coal subsidies to be scrapped and to invest in wind and solar power.
The GUE/NGL group called for a more sustainable energy policy. Neoklis Sylikiotis from Cyprus deplored the failings of current policy in the areas of interconnections, CO2 emissions and energy dependency. He called for appropriate measures to tackle energy policy. Cornelia Ernst from Germany accused the Commission of “prostrating itself in front of national interests” when it gave its blessing for the use of coal and hydraulic fracturing for shale gas. Paloma López Bermejo from Spain called for another energy model to be set up based on energy savings and local production of renewables and clean technologies.
Speaking on behalf of the EFDD group, Dario Tamburrano from Italy, called for more ambitious and binding energy transition objectives and insisted that “this is the European way towards peace and prosperity. As long as we depend on oil, we will be vulnerable to terrorism”.
Speaking for the ENF group, Jean-Luc Schaffhauser from France accused the Commission of “getting its priorities wrong” by ignoring “the fact that the energy market is made up of natural oligarchies where there are distortions”. He concluded that “you are facing countries that are acting alone”. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)