Brussels, 11/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Except for the Greens, all political groups at the European Parliament welcomed the energy and climate change package published by the Commission on Wednesday (EUROPE 9341).
British Conservative Giles Chichester, who chairs the EP Committee on Energy, welcomed the Commission's Energy Policy for Europe and gave his support for “almost every element set out in the document aiming for security of supply and sustainability”. A champion of the nuclear cause, Chichester deplores the Commission's “glaring omission (…) the inadequate promotion of the role of nuclear energy in achieving these objectives”. At the EPP-ED Group also, Peter Liese of Germany welcomes the Commission's ambitions that he considers are identical to the objectives spelled out by the EP and the German EU Council Presidency. “The target of reducing emissions of industrialised countries by 30% by 2020 is scientifically justified and politically reasonable”, he stressed. Mr Liese felt on the other hand that it is now essential for the EU to “not go it alone in the fight against climate change” but for the other main industrial and emerging countries of the world, notably China and India, to pool their efforts with the EU.
Speaking on behalf of the Socialist Group, Robert Goebbels welcomes proposals described as “realistic”, and encourages the Commission to pursue its action in favour of a “common EU energy policy”. The Luxembourg MEP considers the most important thing about the energy package is that it goes back to the beginnings of Community action - like the ECSC Treaty, it must now provide a united and common energy policy aimed at reducing Europe's double dependency - both external and internal - on fossil fuels, he said. Calling for “an intelligent energy mix”, Goebbels stressed the need for more use of renewable sources and better use of existing resources. He said “no solutions should be ruled out” and called for a “sharp increase in research spending”. Hannes Swoboda (PES, Austria) stressed the need for “strong diplomatic activity at EU level on energy questions” with industrialised countries, especially the United States and Australia, and the emerging countries, Brazil, India, China and Indonesia, for common action against atmospheric gas emissions. Eluned Morgan of Britain, who is rapporteur on the Green Paper, regrets, however, that the Commission shows a lack of ambition when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases.
On behalf of ALDE, Fiona Hall of the UK welcomed the fact that the Commission is “clear about the scale of the change required in energy policy, and that energy efficiency is the most significant element” of the package which, in her view, does well to underline the international aspects of clean energy. Ms Hall said that “on electricity and gas liberalisation, the Commission needs to face down French and German opposition and commit to full ownership unbundling if the European energy market is to function in a fully-integrated way”. She welcomed the Commission's proposal on binding targets for renewables and urged the EU27 to support and implement a “strong energy policy”.
The Greens, for their part, stressed the many inadequacies of the Commission's proposals. Above all, they denounced its lack of ambition regarding emissions of greenhouse gases. The committee scorns the proposal put forward by Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas for a 30% target in order to keep to a 20% target which, when all is done, amounts to an effective reduction of hardly 12-14%, Claude Turmes of Luxembourg bemoaned, deploring the fact that no concrete measures have yet been proposed on transport policy. Satu Hassi of Finland said for her part that the Commission's proposals on emissions “are nothing short of climate crime, betraying the future generations of EU citizens”. On renewables, Claude Turmes accused the Commission of not following an approach based on specific targets for each of the sectors in which renewable energies are used (mainly for electricity generation and the production of heating and refrigeration) in order to reach 25% consumption in renewables in 2020, as the EP and Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs advocate. Finally, Turmes reproached the Commission for not being sufficiently firm about the question of ownership unbundling. “Clearly separating power production from distribution (“ownership unbundling”) offers the only way to guarantee the effective functioning of the EU energy market”, he stressed, calling on the Commission to be “unequivocal on this point”, rather than merely listing it as one of a number of options. “If the Commission gives in to the pressure from France and Germany, which are seeking to defend their energy oligopolies, and fudges the issue of unbundling, it will allow these energy giants to stifle innovation and leave EU consumers as the real losers”, was his conclusion. (eh).