Brussels, 21/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 June Hiddo Houben, the EU's deputy chief negotiator for the transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP), said that at the 14th round of EU-US free trade negotiations in Brussels on 11-15 July the negotiators from the European Commission are expected to put the EU's proposal to their US counterparts for a separate chapter in TTIP on energy and raw materials.
“We hope to put to the Americans - then to publish - our text proposal on the energy chapter in July. In our proposal, we will propose a separate chapter dedicated to energy”, Houben announced at a seminar, organised by the European Economic and Social Committee, on the issue of including an energy chapter TTIP.
An energy chapter in TTIP should encourage the liberalisation of trade in energy, template building on the principles of demonopolisiation on the market (including access to pipelines) and help improve cooperation between regulators (especially on fossil fuels) and coordination on the transition towards a low-carbon economy (especially by reducing differences on the labelling of products' energy performances), Houben stated.
The difference in the price of energy between the US and EU, resulting from the shale gas revolution in the US, and electrification in the transport sector are challenges that make TTIP a “new model” for regulating transatlantic energy cooperation.
“We also want to address old fashioned trade barriers such as the US ban on gas exports that dates back to the 1970s under President Carter, when the US wanted to be free from dependence on gas imports”, Houben stated.
“It's important for us to be able to buy gas and oil in the US. We all know that LNG is more expensive than the gas that flows in pipelines, but it's a big positive point for our security of supply”, Houben continued.
In addition, if TTIP can help break the monopolisation of the market by energy monopolies through increased transparency, this can strengthen the trade governed by market rules, he added, underlining the importance of ensuring, through an energy chapter in TTIP, the sharing of resources and access to resources on the basis of non-discriminatory practices.
The chair of the European Parliament's energy committee, Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland), has already underlined the importance of an energy chapter in TTIP. “The European Parliament is convinced that such a chapter is absolutely necessary”, he said, for geopolitical, economic, environmental and also climate reasons.
“Energy is more than a simple commodity. It is linked to sovereignty and supply security and can be used as a political tool”, Buzek stated.
Underlining the advantages of access to US LNG through TTIP, Buzek highlighted his disagreement with the proposal in early May by French ecology minister Ségolène Royal, aimed at banning the import of US shale gas into France.
Hailing the recent lifting of restrictions that had been imposed by the US for the last 40 years on crude oil exports, Buzek underlined the importance of TTIP favouring free energy trade based on transparent market rules through a separate energy chapter.
The head of the North America Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS), Richard Tibbels, also underlined the crucial importance of a separate energy chapter in TTIP.
“Energy is vital for our security and prosperity, as we import 50% of our energy. With the US, we have the same objectives in terms of security of supply, transparency, fostering energy efficiency and renewable energy”, he said.
This is a shared vision that the EU-US Energy Council illustrate for strengthening cooperation on energy security, energy policy and research, Tibbels stated, underlining the joint efforts to support Ukraine and the modernisation of its energy sector as for promoting sustainable energy policies in the Caribbean and Africa.
As well as the strategic need in economic terms, the inclusion of an energy chapter in TTIP would enable a response to the objectives of opening up the market, transparency and non-discrimination for trade in energy at global level, Tibbels also stated.
“Energy was the orphan of international regulation in the past. Establishing rules between the EU and US on energy and raw materials would lay the groundwork for themselves, but also for other countries to establish the principles of good governance, transparency, and access to resources”, Tibbels said. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)