Strasbourg, 29/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - Parliament deems the recent and constant rise in crude oil prices and the impact this has on citizens, the economy and the competitiveness of business in Europe (and hence the achievement of the Lisbon goals) are, together with Europe's dependency on oil imports, cause for great concern. In a joint resolution by all its political groups except the IND/DEM, adopted on Thursday, it therefore calls for a complete and coherent global strategy to promote energy saving, energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources. Given the very high oil consumption level in the United States and the constantly increasing energy consumption in a number of emergent states (China and India in particular), the Parliament stresses the need for such a strategy and calls on the EU to organise a world summit for the large oil consumer and producer countries. Also, it calls on the Commission to include provisions on sustainable energy supplies in its development cooperation policy, to help developing and emerging countries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuel imports.
Stressing the geostrategic aspects of Europe's dependency on hydrocarbon imports, the Parliament recalls that the Union must diversify its energy sources and its suppliers in order to ensure supply security, and strengthen energy dialogue with third countries (mainly to promote the transparency of oil markets). Considering, moreover, that alternative energy sources are “the most logical answer” to the surge in oil prices, the Parliament stresses the need to implement concrete measures and strategies to promote research and development (R&D), the increased use of renewable energies and the promotion of energy efficiency to reduce the European economy's dependency on fossil fuels. Furthermore, noting that consumers are forced to pay higher prices not only because of the high cost of crude oil but also because of the rise in VAT rates and taxes on energy applied to the final products (which vary considerably from one Member State to the next, the text states), the Parliament approves the conclusions of the informal Ecofin Council of 9 and 10 September in Manchester calling for non-coordinated tax measures between Member States to be avoided, as they may engender competition distortion.
As far as oil prices are concerned, the Parliament invites the Commission to present proposals aimed at bringing the social responsibility of companies into play at Community level in order to direct private investment financed by exceptional current gains made by oil companies toward energy saving programmes, alternative energy technology and R&D. These goals should be pursued, either on the basis of a voluntary agreement with the oil companies or by a coordinated political initiative, at Union scale. Given that speculation on price rises contributes to pushing oil prices up, the Parliament calls on the Commission to keep hedge funds under surveillance and, at the request of Luxembourg Green member Claude Turmes, to revise their regulatory statute.
On the matter of energy demand, the Parliament notes that full implementation of the current legislation and that being developed would make it possible to achieve at least 23% in energy saving by 2020. It regrets, however, that in its five-point plan to counter the surge in oil prices (EUROPE 9021), the Commission had omitted to seriously take account the transport sector which represents 70% of all Union oil consumption. The Parliament therefore calls on the Commission to take urgent concrete measures to guarantee supply security in oil products and, for environmental reasons, to promote the use of more fuel efficient engines. Furthermore, it recalls the importance of using bio-fuels as substitutes and calls for the hydrogen cell development programme to be accelerated.
The EP also invites the Commission to: - present the European action plan for energy efficiency; - stresses that Member States should fully implement the new directive on energy efficiency in buildings; - urge the Energy Council in December to reach agreement on the directive on energy services; - contribute to the transparency and predictability of oil markets with improved information gathering; - compel Member States to reach their renewable energy objectives fixed in the directive on the promotion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources; - compel motor vehicle manufacturers to develop cleaner and less energy consuming vehicles; - and prevent the risk of social exclusion of the citizens most vulnerable to rising oil prices. With the adoption of an amendment by the PES group, the EP also urges the Commission to encourage increased use of energy based on clean coal.