Brussels, 10/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - As announced earlier, the European Commission adopted a series of measures on Wednesday aimed at securing energy supplies for the EU, managing energy demand and allowing the development of a competitive internal energy market. "With these proposed measures, we aim, on one hand, at enlargement and, on the other, energy supply security, especially electricity supply", Loyola de Palacio, Energy Commissioner, explained at a press conference. She recalled the dramatic power cut in Italy this summer and insisted on the need to make early provision for any other problems of this kind in the future. The measures will be examined for the first time by the Energy Council on 15 December.
In order to guarantee the supply security of energy and an internal and competitive energy market, the Commission wants to create a framework that promotes investment in the construction of new production, transport and electricity and gas transmission infrastructure and to improve the interconnection between Member States. In its proposal of directive on electricity infrastructures and supply security, the Commission calls upon: - Member States to define an adequate production policy with reserve capacity goals and to establish security norms to be respected for transport and distribution networks; - each transmission system operation to submit a multiannual investment strategy to its national regulator in order to develop infrastructure projects (the regulatory authorities will provide a summary of these investment programmes to the Commission for consultation with the European Regulators Group on Electricity and Gas and with account having been taken of the Trans European Energy Networks Axes or Priority European Interest (TEN-E). Also, the national regulators should be authorised to speed up some projects.
In its proposals for a decision reviewing the TEN-E guidelines for electricity and gas, the Commission takes into account in the list of European priority projects the need to integrate the acceding and neighbouring countries more into the EU's internal energy market, introduces a Declaration of European Interest (to give priority to some projects) and also appoints a European coordinator for some projects (we shall publish the list of projects in EUROPE/Documents).
Finally, in its proposals for a regulation on the crossborder gas trade, the Commission provides above all for the adoption of specific and binding guidelines for access by third parties to the network, the management of capacity sharing, pricing structure, and transparency obligations, etc. The national regulatory authorities will be entrusted with the task of monitoring compliance with these provisions.
In order to improve the management of energy demand throughout Community territory, the Commission proposes a directive aimed at creating a Community market for energy services (lighting, heating, hot water, ventilation) as well as effective energy measures. It imposes on Member States an overall savings target for the final use of energy of at least 1% per year out of the total internal energy distributed or sold to endusers (households, agriculture, transport, industry, public and commercial sectors). The public sector should set the example by achieving energy savings of at least 1.5% per year. Energy distributors and/or suppliers should ensure that energy services are available to consumers until 5% of them are covered. The proposal, however, provides for the possibility for Member States to insist on measures taken earlier. It states that Member States may achieve their aims either by establishing new energy services and new provisions to promote energy efficiency, or by measuring and verifying the impact of services and provisions in place as of 1991 at the earliest. Thus, taxes on energy and information campaigns may be taken into account on condition that their impact is quantifiable and verifiable. As Ms de Palacio explained, the proposal leaves Member Sates a margin of manoeuvre since it is up to them to decide what sectors should contribute (and in what proportion) to the national goal. Finally, in order to help Member States, the proposal establishes a harmonised framework with common definitions, methodologies and instruments. The States must therefore: - have a system for qualification and certification of energy service providers and mutually recognise these certificates; - amend or abolish all legislation that is an obstacle to the use of financial instruments to promote energy saving (such as financing by third parties); - ensure independent and high quality energy audit systems are available; - ensure that meters and other systems accurately measure the real energy consumption; - and guarantee explanatory invoicing.