In the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, once again defended his proposal for a ‘grids’ package, in particular the coordination and planning of electricity grids at European level, using a “top-down” approach.
This package was presented on 10 December (see EUROPE 13770/4) and was inspired in part by the European Parliament’s own-initiative report on grids (see EUROPE 13663/23), as the Commissioner pointed out.
A new “top-down” approach to grid planning, coordinated by the European Commission, “does not replace national or regional planning; it complements it”, he explained in response to questions from MEPs.
He then pointed out that the necessary data and political information from the local level, in particular from electricity transmission system operators, will remain essential elements.
“Sharing knowledge and data: these elements will not change. Admittedly, this gives the European Union more power in a way, but it’s not a zero-sum game. The EU is not taking decision-making powers away from the Member States, quite the contrary. By acquiring these skills, we will be able to give more power to the Member States and draw up more rational plans”, he explained on several occasions.
Also asked about the higher energy prices in South-East Europe, the Commissioner again stressed the need to promote interconnections between Member States. In particular, he pointed out that, without the existing interconnections, the EU would pay €40 billion more per year, according to data from the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
US LNG. The fear of new dependence of the Union on US liquefied natural gas (LNG) also crept into the debate. According to Mr Jørgensen, transatlantic relations have indeed been shaken by the latest threats from the US President, Donald Trump, linked to the annexation of Greenland. However, this relationship is “different from the one we had with Russia, an enemy (...) that has instrumentalised energy to harm us”.
In any case, the Commissioner believes that it is necessary to diversify energy supplies, and above all, that the EU must move away from its dependence on all fossil gas imports. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)