The European Parliament’s rapporteurs on the own-initiative report on the security of energy supply (see EUROPE 13591/11), presented on Tuesday 18 March to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), broadly advocated an end to Russian fossil fuel imports and regretted that the Commission had still not presented its ‘roadmap’ on the subject (see EUROPE 13588/3).
For example, rapporteur Beata Szydło (ECR, Polish), stressing the need to “get rid of cheap Russian hydrocarbons”, repeatedly asked why the Commission’s ‘roadmap’ – which was due to be presented at the end of February – was no longer on the institution’s agenda.
This question was also asked by the shadow rapporteurs, Pilar Del Castillo Vera (EPP, Spanish) and Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA, German).
All the other rapporteurs – Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (S&D, French), Yvan Verougstraete (Renew Europe, Belgian) and Jussi Saramo (The Left, Finnish) (replacing Hanna Gedin (Swedish) – with the exception of Paolo Borchia (Patriots for Europe, Italian), mentioned as well the need to prepare for the definitive withdrawal of Russian oil and gas imports. The report also mentions nuclear power and related technologies.
The provisional text stresses, among other things, the need to diversify imports, to focus on nuclear energy and recognises the still necessary role of natural gas, calling for its production within the EU and the European Economic Area to be stepped up.
MEPs have until Thursday 20 March to table their amendments.
To see the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/fpp (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)