Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) expressed strong criticism of the fifth list of projects of common interest (PCIs) that was presented to them by the European Commission on Thursday, 11 November.
Established every two years through the adoption of a delegated act, the list of PCIs consists of a number of European cross-border energy infrastructure projects that fulfil the EU’s criteria to become eligible for certain benefits, in particular the possibility of receiving EU funds.
These criteria are set out in the EU regulation (347/2013) on trans-European energy networks (TEN-E), which the European Commission has proposed revising so as to bring it into line with the objectives of the European Green Deal (see EUROPE 12623/3). Given that the revision is still in progress (see EUROPE 12809/21), the criteria set out in the existing regulation apply to the fifth list of PCIs.
Nevertheless, the European Commission had promised to ensure that its methodology for assessing the sustainability of candidate gas projects would be updated before the fifth list is adopted (see EUROPE 12605/13). A promise that has not been kept, according to many members of the ITRE Committee.
Members’ reactions
For Claudia Gamon (Renew Europe, Austria), the European Commission’s draft list thus seems to be “a tool of the past energy policy”. In her sights is the presence of gas projects on the list.
For her part, Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France) called on her colleagues to reject the delegated act.
Explaining her position, she stated, “Gas is a fossil fuel that we need to get rid of—not an energy that we need to invest in—at the risk of locking ourselves into a fossil fuel energy model for several more decades”.
This same opinion was expressed by Marc Botenga (The Left, Belgium), who lambasted the list for being equally at odds with both the EU’s social ambitions and its climate ambitions. In particular, he reminded his colleagues that the current rise in energy prices was mainly due to a surge in gas prices.
As for Christian Ehler (EPP, Germany), he lamented the lack of a “strategic dimension”, stressing the need to renovate existing gas infrastructures for hydrogen transport.
For her part, Patrizia Toia (S&D, Italy) wondered how the gas projects included in the list fit into the EU’s strategy for integrating energy systems.
On the other hand, MEPs from the ID and ECR groups welcomed the list. Paolo Borchia (ID, Italy) considered it “balanced” and “full of common sense”.
In response to this criticism, the European Commission emphasised that the list did not contain any new gas projects compared to the fourth list and did not include any oil-related projects.
For the institution, fossil gas represents a necessary transition energy for certain Member States to move away from coal.
Questioned during a press conference in Glasgow on Thursday, 11 November, in the context of the 26th UN climate conference (COP26), European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans—who is in charge of the Green Deal—declared, “What we need to do with our investments [in fossil gas] is to make sure that the investments [are made] in the infrastructure[s] that [...] are pre-fitted to also be able to carry decarbonated or green gases”.
The European Commission plans to adopt the list on 19 November.
It will then have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. They do not have the power to amend it, since it is a delegated act.
See the draft list: https://bit.ly/3bYJg7H (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)