Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-04-Speech-2-274"
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"en.20000704.11.2-274"2
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"Mr President, the report on the Commission’s second report to the Council and the European Parliament on progress in liberalising energy markets only takes account of two aspects, namely competition and the deepening of the internal energy market. In order to justify this strategy of the full liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets, the report sings the praises of the supposed positive effects of competition, namely, reduced production costs, increased job opportunities and even goes as far as to praise its positive macroeconomic effects on the job market. By what mechanism does he hope this will be achieved, or rather by what mysterious means?
In fact, the liberalisation that has been carried out to date or is in progress has not generated employment and, in some public utilities, personnel levels have even dropped as a result. According to the trade unions in the ETUC, 300 000 jobs have already been lost and a further 200 000 are threatened. Everywhere you look employees rights are under threat.
I take issue with another assertion made in the report concerning the reduction in energy prices. Who will benefit from this and how exactly? It is commonly known that tariff reductions all too often only benefit large industrial users. As far as ordinary users are concerned, gas and electricity have become goods that one can either afford or not. Will users in the not too distant future be asked to pay for their electricity in advance, as is the case in Great Britain, and be forced to go without when their card runs out?
Energy is a basic need. Access to it must therefore be considered a fundamental right. In our view, only genuine public and democratic regulation would make it possible to rationalise both the production and use of energy while ensuring respect for the environment and basic equalisation. This would constitute the first step towards a European public service that met the needs of today’s users and employees. However, such concerns seem far removed from this report, which is why I cannot vote in favour of it as it stands."@en1
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