On the whole, the EPP, S&D and Greens/EFA political groups at the European Parliament welcomed the adoption by the energy committee on Wednesday 21 February of draft negotiating mandates with the EU Council of Ministers on the four texts of the Clean Energy package relating to “electricity market redesign”. Environmentalist MEPs, however, like those of the far Left, criticised the weakness of provisions on energy poverty.
“We want to do away with heavy state subsidies and instead let the market do the job of supplying industries and households with affordable and secure energy inside the EU”, commented the rapporteur, Letton Krisjanis Karins on behalf of the EPP, on the revised directive and the revised regulation for the electricity market.
“Besides resulting in a better way of solving both our climate goals and giving the lowest and most competitive prices for consumers, it will also provide investors in the electricity market with the needed assurance to make long-term investments in the market”, Karins added. He also applauded adoption of the Commission proposal to limit the emissions from power plants that provide back-up capacity to 550 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour “a measure that will facilitate the transformation to cleaner electricity production”.
Speaking on behalf of the S&D, the rapporteur on the regulation for risk preparedness in the electricity sector, Flavio Zanonato of Italy, hailed the support given to the Commission’s proposal aimed at strengthening solidarity and ensuring interoperability for relief to shortages. “Member states currently have very different approaches when it comes to crisis prevention and management and the national rules and practices tend to ignore the interconnected reality of the current electricity market, where the effects of crisis often transcend borders”, he stressed.
His German colleague, Martina Werner, underlined: “Sectors on the road to obsolescence, such as the coal industry, must not receive operational subsidies but benefit from funding to adapt to the low carbon economy. Also, no consumer, no family, must fall into energy-poverty. To this end, we want to ensure that member states are able to regulate prices, in certain circumstances and for another ten years, but this possibility should be limited to vulnerable consumers or those who are poor in energy”.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA Group, Claude Turmes of Luxembourg hailed “the coherent approach of the European Parliament which takes a position in favour of consumers and climate, against member states that continue to provide massive subsidies for nuclear and coal energy”. In line with the Paris international climate agreement, “we propose in-depth reform of the market by making it more flexible and more open to better integrate renewable energies by creating new individual and collective rights to promote the autonomy of consumers and by facilitating auto-consumption and local energy communicates”, he stressed. He also welcomed the support given to gradually eliminating regulated tariffs.
Nonetheless Turmes deplores the weakness of the text concerning the protection of consumers who are victims of energy poverty and for whom it is, he says, “essential to speed up energy efficient policies by renovating our real estate more rapidly and more thoroughly”. “Most MEPs do not seem to understand the magnitude of the problem. The absence of sound measures preventing power being cut off from people who cannot pay their bills is deeply regrettable”, he said.
The GUE/NGL group spoke along the same lines and Neoklis Sylikiotis of Cyprus took issue with a legislative package that sets out “liberalisation of the internal market for electricity – at the expense of vulnerable customers”. “For us, energy is a social good and it is therefore important to ensure equal access for all to affordable energy”, he said.
“Priority must be given to renewable energy rather than coal and fossil fuels to provide electricity”, said Xabier Benito Ziluaga of Spain. He went on to say: “The limitation of 550g CO2/kWh for capacity mechanisms has been approved. It is the first step – which needs to be strengthened – in phasing out hidden subsidies for power plants using fossil fuels”. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry).