Brussels, 23/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - During the General Affairs Council held in Brussels on Monday 23 February, several member states reiterated their reservations on unblocking €5 billion of Community money to make investments in the field of energy (€3.75 billion) as part of the economic relaunch plan, and in the field of infrastructure (€1.25 billion for broadband internet and challenges in the rural areas). Germany, Austria and the Netherlands repeated their reservations, which are mainly budgetary in nature, whilst others, including Spain, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria, protested that the proposed list of energy projects does not respect geographical balance. The General Affairs Council, which is spearheading this dossier, measured its words more than the European finance ministers did, with the result that the Czech Presidency showed willingness to continue discussions with a view to finding a compromise.
After the debate of the foreign affairs ministers, the Czech Presidency noted that the new list of energy projects had gone down far better than the previous one, but conceded that a number of member states are still not entirely happy. It pointed out that almost all of the countries (and the legal service of the Council) are opposed to the use of the 2008 budgetary margins in heading two (which includes agricultural expenditure). The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) has now been asked to look into funding possibilities from the 2009 and 2010 budgets instead. The Czech Presidency felt that it was important to move forward on this dossier, and therefore informally to seek the opinion of the European Parliament on the uncontroversial aspects of the proposals.
Franco Frattini, the Italian minister, acknowledged the efforts which have been made. The new document on the list of energy projects is far better than the first one and the EU should, in his opinion, agree on this dossier very soon. Estonia supported the plan and said that it could agree to a revision of the financial framework to make €5 billion available. Latvia also returned a favourable opinion on the proposals. Michael Spindelegger, Austrian Foreign Affairs Minister, said that the list of energy projects should be discussed further and entered a reservation on the €5 billion. He said that the money to be made available should depend on amounts available. Micheal Martin, the Irish minister, said that he was in favour of the proposed €5 billion. In the view of Luis Amado, the Portuguese minister, the list does not respect geographical balance and the sharing out of the benefits is not a fair one. He also called for greater flexibility in using the money (€1.25 billion) earmarked for rural development (internet in rural areas and new challenges). The package is not acceptable, the Portuguese minister summed up. The United Kingdom challenged the proposal to use the 2008 margin from heading two (which includes agricultural expenditure) to fund some of the envelope of €5 billion. Instead, the UK would prefer to see the system of redeployed credits used. Sweden said that it supported the revised list and opposed the use of 2008 margin in heading two. This country called for a "step-by-step" approach to funding. The emphasis must be laid on "ready to go" projects, said the Slovenian minister. Slovenia said that it was not opposed to the creation of a specific fund to finance the €5 billion, as long as the fund is temporary. The revision of the financial framework may be a solution, but "as a last resort", added the Slovenian minister, Samuel Zbogar. The secretary of state to the Spanish ministry, Diego Lopez Garrido, said that the list does not respect geographical balance and felt that the Iberian peninsular was rather neglected by the projects. Lithuania agreed with the revised list, whilst Hungary felt that the first list had been better for it. It stressed the importance of supporting those countries which suffered the most from the gas crisis (central and south-eastern Europe). France essentially stressed the importance of the geographical balance of the projects and stated that more work was still needed to reach a solution on the funding of the €5 billion. The German minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, repeated that he did not wish to see the financial perspectives reopened to find the 5 billion needed and called for a new list of energy projects. The list must be revised, added the Greek secretary of state, Yannis Valinakis. For the Netherlands, the important thing is to concentrate efforts on measures taken nationally to relaunch the economy. The Dutch minister, Frans Timmermans, is believed to have stated the view that an agreement is possible. Like Ireland, Poland supported the proposed amount (€5 billion) and stressed the importance for the EU of not scaling down its ambitions. Denmark said that it agreed with the list proposed and that it could agree to a revision of the financial perspectives.
It is worth noting that the Commission proposes to allocate €3.75 billion for energy projects, of which €2.1 billion will go to interconnection projects in the gas and electricity sectors, €1.15 billion to carbon capture and storage projects and €500 million to wind projects. An additional €1.25 billion has been proposed for the rural development fund, two thirds of which will go to the broadband internet infrastructure and the remaining third to meet challenges (climate change, renewable energy, water management, biodiversity and accompaniment measures for the restructuring of the dairy sector). (L.C./transl.fl)