Brussels, 08/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - In the perspective of the European Council's adoption on 8-9 March of an action plan defining energy policy priorities for Europe, the Commission will be publishing a vast and very eagerly awaited “energy package”, as well as a strategic analysis consisting of at least 10 documents.
In a provisional version of its strategic analysis that the College of Commissioners will be adopting on Wednesday (it will attempt to gain a consensus on the figures missing from several different areas), the Commission will examine the main elements of an energy policy for Europe, which is expected to include the triangle of priority objectives: security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability. The Commission considers that the fight against climate change, the promotion of growth and jobs, and limiting the Union's dependency on imported hydrocarbons constitutes the “starting point” for a common energy policy. It stresses that, “This means transforming Europe into a highly energy efficient and low Co2 energy economy, by catalyzing a new industrial revolution, accelerating the change to low carbon growth and, over a period of years, dramatically increasing the amount of local, low emission energy that we produce and use”. In this context, the Commission is proposing, through a communication on the political options for fighting climate change, an objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020 for developed countries (compared to 1990 levels); by 2050 emissions should be globally reduced by 50%, which implies a reduction of between 60% and 80% in industrialised countries. Developing countries will also be expected to match these efforts. Although post-Kyoto negotiations are still ongoing, the Union will be expected, in an effort to confirm its leadership, to attain a reduction of around (x%) by 2020.
In the global perspective of fighting climate change, the Commission is therefore inviting the European Council to validate its action plan, which is based on a series of priority initiatives: increasing the Union's energy efficiency by 20% by 2020; achieving the target of (y%) in renewables in the Union's energy mix by 2020, with a minimum target for biofuels of (z%); guaranteeing the choice of suppliers to companies and consumers through enhanced action, guaranteeing the separation of energy production activities from distribution and better control of gas and electricity regulation; attaining the objective of electrical inter-connection for 10% of production capacity in Member States; carrying out joint action internationally for fighting climate change; increasing spending on clean energy technologies; developing solidarity mechanisms for managing supply crises and elaborating a common external energy policy that will allow the EU27 to speak with a single voice with third countries; and focusing development aid efforts by giving greater priority to decentralised use of renewable energies in developing countries.
The annual report on implementation of the 2003 directives, and the final report from the sectoral investigation, mean that the “energy package” accounts for a priority place in the internal market. In an attempt to provide competition with a boost and break the energy monopolies' power, the Commission is proposing two options to guarantee the unbundling of production and network activities, rather than implementing new legislation: the first, more radical, will smash the groups controlling both the electricity plants and distribution networks; the second will be the creation of an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO), where the vertically integrated group will remain the owner of network assets and receive compensation for the use of its infrastructure. The sectoral investigation carried out by the Commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes' services, concluded that the dysfunctions occurring in the internal market were caused by shortcomings in the public authorities and weaknesses in the regulatory framework. The Commission is also proposing three options for strengthening the authorities and national regulators, as well as harmonising the technical standards for cross border trade. The first option is based on a gradual approach for strengthening coordination between regulators and improving the functioning of procedures on the basis of the approach used in the telecommunications sector; the second would be the creation of an “ERGEG+” (ERGEG/European Regulators' Group for Electricity and Gas) able to take binding decisions on some issues and, with a secretariat at Community level, to prepare harmonised technical standards; the third, proposed in the Green Paper, would be the creation of an ad hoc mechanism, a European regulation authority. Finally, to re-launch investment in production and infrastructure, especially in cross-border electric interconnections and in gas import structures, the Commission will also present a specific communication for priority interconnections.
As well as its reports on the internal market, the Commission will, on Wednesday, present documents drawn up in close collaboration by the staff of Commissioners Andris Piebalgs (Energy) and Stavros Dimas (Environment): a roadmap on renewable energy with new objectives for 2020 - the Commission being able to propose binding objectives from “less than 7% to (y)%” (according to a Community source, this figure is likely to be somewhere between 15 and 20% depending on the decision taken by the College on Wednesday) - and a progress report on biofuels (with a binding objective by 2020); a progress report on green electricity; a communication on fossil fuels which will deal in particular with clean coal and techniques for CO2 capture and storage, and improving the energy efficiency of coal- and gas-powered electricity plants. It will also present a strategic plan for energy technologies and an “indicative” draft nuclear programme. On this last point, while it is not slow to highlight the advantages of this energy source (stable costs thanks to the plentiful raw material, uranium, which is found in safe regions of the world and its minimal contribution to the greenhouse effect), the Commission is nonetheless wary of recommending the generalised use of nuclear power in Member States' energy mixes, pointing out that it is up to them to choose this option or not.
Finally, as well as a huge chapter on international energy policy, the Commission, in its strategic analysis, devotes considerable space to reinforcing solidarity mechanisms in the face of possible disruption to oil, gas and electricity supplies. It suggests, notably, developing strategic stocks of gas at Community level, similar to the oil stocks which already exist. (eh)