Brussels, 20/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - As we announced (see EUROPE 9864), European heads of state and government, meeting in Brussels on 19-20 March, did not hold an in-depth debate on energy. The matter did, however, feature on the agenda, since the EU leaders agreed on the European recovery plan and its chapter devoted to energy infrastructure, which now has to be debated in the European Parliament. They also adopted conclusions on energy security, welcoming the 2nd strategic energy review and the action plan, for energy security and solidarity, which were brought forward by the European Commission in November, and setting out targets. Annexed to the conclusions are those of the Energy Council of 6 March, and also a note from the Czech Presidency on the conference on security of electricity supply to Ostrava in January of this year.
In its conclusions, the European Council restates the need to improve energy efficiency, to diversify suppliers, energy sources and supply routes, and to promote EU interests vis-à-vis third countries. “The EU collectively, as well as each member state, must be prepared to combine solidarity with responsibility,” the Council states.
To enhance the EU's energy security, energy infrastructure and interconnections must be developed. To this end, the Commission is invited to rapidly present the measures needed to realise the priority areas identified in the 2nd strategic review: the Southern Gas Corridor, which includes the Nabucco and South Stream projects, increase use of liquefied natural gas, the interconnection of the Baltic region, the Mediterranean energy ring, electric and gas interconnections through Central and South Eastern Europe, and the North Sea energy network. In the longer term, the Commission is invited to present, early in 2010, its proposal for a new EU Energy Security and Infrastructure Instrument.
There is also an “urgent” need to establish adequate crisis mechanisms in the EU and to obtain clear guarantees from suppliers and transit partners that supplies will not be interrupted. Council is invited to examine by the end of 2009 the forthcoming Commission proposals to revise legislation on the security of gas supply. This should include an appropriate crisis mechanism ensuring the preparedness of all actors, including the energy industry, transparency and prior information through the development of EU and regional plans for security of supply. To ensure solidarity between member states, the Council is asked to develop regional plans and to improve assessment and coordination through the redefinition of the threshold for deciding actions at Community level.
The European Council also, of course, stresses energy efficiency. It, therefore, calls on the Energy Council to agree, before the end of the year, on the proposals contained in the Energy Efficiency Package. It invites the Commission to rapidly propose a revision of the Energy Efficiency Action Plan adopted in 2006.
An efficient, liberalised and well connected internal energy market is a prerequisite for an effective policy on energy security. Therefore the European Council calls on the Council and the European Parliament to conclude an agreement on the third package for the Internal Energy Market before the parliamentary recess.
The Council also stresses the need to speak with one voice to supplier and transit countries and deliver “consistent messages”. To this end, the Commission is invited to speed up work on proposals for concrete action on the development of the Southern corridor including a mechanism to facilitate access to Caspian gas.
The European Council highlights the need to make the best use of its own energy resources, including renewables, fossil fuels and, in countries which choose to do so, nuclear energy.
All the leaders who spoke to press of the Summit's energy chapter welcomed the contribution made by the European recovery plan and the section devoted to energy infrastructure and security. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende welcomed the support for his country's North Sea offshore wind farms and two carbon capture and storage projects. Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was pleased with the funding allocated to four projects directly or indirectly involving Belgium, such as the Belgium-France gas interconnection and the UK-Germany interconnection that passes through Belgium, and windfarm projects in the North Sea. Romanian President Traian Basescu welcomed the money allocated to the Nabucco gas pipeline project and the gas interconnection between Romania and Hungary. Latvian head of government Valdis Dombrovskis and his Lithuanian counterpart Andrius Kublius welcomed the money allocated to the construction of the electricity interconnection between the Baltic States and Sweden, even though it has not yet been decided if the cable will go to Latvia or Lithuania - an issue that Dombrovski called “ not to politicise”. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a diplomat revealed, stressed to his peers the need for the EU to become an energy producer to guarantee its energy security. “Being an energy producer means producing nuclear and renewable energy. Both need joint effort on research,” he said. (E.H./transl.rt)