Brussels, 27/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on 29 June under the chairmanship of the Luxembourg minister for the economy, Jeannot Krecké, the energy ministers of the EU are to adopt a political agreement on two major legislative proposals, the trans-European energy networks in the enlarged Europe and energy efficiency at end-use and in energy services.
The Council is to reach a political agreement on the proposed decision establishing guidelines on the trans-European networks (TEN) in the energy sector and repealing decisions 96/391/EC and 1229/2003/EC. The proposal aims principally to adapt the guidelines on the trans-European networks, which were adopted in June 2003 (to take account of enlargement, amongst other things) and allow projects of common interest to be financed in the enlarged EU. The revision includes projects to facilitate the integration of the new Member States into the internal market for electricity and gas. It also takes account of the need for projects including the neighbouring countries of the Union. The draft decision defines the nature and the scope of community action in this sector and a series of guidelines on the objectives, priorities and outlines to guide this action. The guidelines will identify projects of common interest, including ones which are a priority as part of the electricity and gas TENs. The compromise text of the Luxembourg Presidency is largely based on the general orientation decided on by the Council on 10 June 2004 (EUROPE 8723), but it also takes account of certain amendments adopted at first reading by the Parliament on 7 June (EUROPE 8965). Furthermore, the text aims to simplify the decision-making structure (in terms of levels of priorities and numbers of annexes) compared to the Commission's initial proposal, and to bring it as far as possible into line with decision 1229/2003/EC of June 2003. In this way, it removes two new provisions proposed by the Commission on the drafting and implementing of priority projects, projects of European interest and the option for the Commission to appoint a European coordinator for a priority axis or project. The compromise does, however, stress the need to give priority to projects covered by annex 1 (projects which come under the heading of one of the priority planks) and to ensure better coordination between the Member States, to optimise the implementation of certain projects, notably cross-border ones. Further to the removal of these provisions, the Commission announced that it would not accept the compromise text, which will oblige the Council to adopt its common position unanimously. The Presidency's text also keeps the oil pipeline networks within the scope of the proposal, but states that these projects no longer fulfil the criteria to claim Community funding under regulation to 236/95.
The Council is also to reach a political agreement on the proposed directive on energy efficiency at end use and the energy service, with a view to adopting its common position (co-decision). It is worth noting that when it took position at first reading on 7 June, the Parliament confirmed its commitment to setting binding objectives in terms of energy efficiency (EUROPE 8965). It is also worth noting that the Commission's initial proposal aims to promote energy efficiency by bringing in binding objectives for the Member States in terms of energy savings, including the public sector (for which the Commission has proposed setting energy saving objectives of 1.5%), and by taking measures to contribute to setting up a market for energy services. This initial proposal targets the end user and retailers (demand aspect) and complements previous Community legislation on energy supply. In comparison with the initial proposal by the Commission, the compromise text of the Luxembourg Presidency hopes to set an energy-savings objective for the Member States which is merely indicative, but under which the Member States would be obliged to take measures allowing an indicative of objective of 6% over a period of six years to be achieved (the energy efficiency of the public sector would be included in this 6%).
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs is also to present his Green Paper on energy efficiency (EUROPE 8975). The Luxembourg Presidency and the Commission will also report back to the Council on the first EU/OPEC meeting, which took place on 9 June (EUROPE 8965) and on recent developments in EU/Russian energy dialogue, since the Summit of Moscow of 10 May adopted the roadmap for the common economic area (EUROPE 8944), which includes an energy and infrastructure plank. The Council will adopt conclusions on the continuing of energy dialogue with OPEC and Russia. It will then hear a report by the Polish delegation on regional energy cooperation in the Baltic Sea area (BASREC). Lastly, the Commission will report back on the state of play with negotiations with the countries of south-eastern Europe with a view to establishing an integrated energy market in the region.