Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) will be examining the Parliament’s position on energy security in the coming weeks, with the drafting of a report on European electricity grids and another on security of supply.
The initial versions of these two reports were published on 24 and 25 February respectively and are due to be discussed by the ITRE Committee on 18 March. MEPs will then have until 20 March to table their amendments. An ITRE Committee vote could take place in June, followed by a plenary vote in July.
Networks. The own-initiative report on electricity grids prepared by Anna Stürgkh (Renew Europe, Austrian), the rapporteur on the subject, calls for an acceleration of the funding for electricity grids, for which the EU must invest €584 billion by 2030.
In particular, the draft report calls for the budget allocated under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Energy) to be increased when the proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is presented, and for the Commission to propose a funding instrument to support decentralised grid projects.
The document also calls for a targeted revision of the TEN-E regulation to introduce a robust planning process and simplify applications for small and medium-sized distribution system operators.
Security of supply. The non-legislative report prepared by Beata Szydło (ECR, Polish) on the security of energy supply calls for a review of the definition of “energy security” in the current geopolitical context.
The draft document condemns, among other things, calls for a return to Russian energy imports as part of the peace agreement in Ukraine, and considers that the next revision of the EU security of supply framework should include an obligation for each Member State to prepare an exit plan for Russian energy sources.
The report stresses the importance of diversification, flexibility and storage, as well as the “key role” of technological neutrality.
In particular, it notes the need to support the development of a new generation of nuclear technologies and recognises the importance of increasing domestic production, including in less developed sectors such as geothermal, biomethane and marine energy.
It also points to the need to increase natural gas production in the EU and the European Economic Area. In an explanatory statement, the rapporteur highlights “the EU’s unstable and ambivalent policy towards natural gas, which has undermined the trading position of EU companies, leaving them unable to conclude long-term contracts”, mentioning the legal limitation of gas contracts until 2049 (see EUROPE 13413/13).
To see the draft report on networks: https://aeur.eu/f/fpp ; and the one on security of supply: https://aeur.eu/f/fpq (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)