Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-20-Speech-3-049"
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"en.20000920.4.3-049"2
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".
Mr President, I would to thank all the Members who have spoken in the debate and point out that there is largely a broad consensus on our approach to this issue. Ten dollars per barrel of oil was far too low a price and, furthermore, it had negative effects on our economies, although this seems more complicated to explain. On the other hand, 35 dollars is too high a price for us to bear. That is why we have to try immediately to persuade OPEC to increase production in order to lower the tension over prices, so that we can really fulfil that “target band” and make the markets more stable.
We should not once again – as the spokesman of the Socialist Group said a moment ago – forget the problem and ‘only remember
when it thunders’, but we should maintain our action over time. In the Directorate-General for Energy we have been working since November on the medium-term strategy for energy, and I therefore hope that we will be able to present a quality document in the coming weeks. We are seeking a medium-term view, which is combined with a review of the Union’s transport policy because it is a fact that energy is a crucial component in transport. Much of our energy is destined for this specific sector in particular.
This means coordinating the energy policy. I would like us to try to communitise this, but, in the mean time, we must coordinate the energy policy of the Member States. It is also necessary to continue making progress on transport policies and we must avoid, as a result of a crisis such as this, suddenly changing our transport policy and energy policy which has been established over recent years. We must be coherent. We must not therefore use the method of lowering taxes as a solution to this circumstantial rise in oil prices.
Perhaps, in a very limited way, some countries may resort to that method, above all because there may be an exception in the directive on hydrocarbons. We could probably consider certain proposals such as postponing the ecotax, but what we cannot do is propose one thing and then its complete opposite. I repeat that we must have a minimum degree of internal coherence in our policies. Energy and transport policies are medium- and long-term policies, which cannot be modified under pressure from very specific circumstances, which I am sure are going to change within a year and a half or two years although, no doubt, we will not return to prices of 10 dollars per barrel. However, they are going to change simply for market reasons, even if OPEC does nothing. Furthermore, OPEC is prepared to act and I hope that it does so and does so well.
Nevertheless, these long-term measures cannot absolve us of our current responsibilities, responsibilities, which we all share, which range from safeguarding the freedom of movement to complying with Community rules. But it is also the responsibility of the governments to take measures to alleviate the difficulties and provide solutions for the sectors that are most affected. We are talking specifically of the transport sector and now, in the Council of Transport Ministers, I hope we will reach some agreements. There are also problems in the fishing and agricultural sectors, without forgetting that there is another whole series of sectors affected by these difficulties.
We must work on issues such as energy saving, renewable energies, research into biofuels and the use of biomass. Before the end of the year we will produce a regulation on buildings which this House can deal with.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I must now leave you because I am running a little late for the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg."@en1
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"Santa Bárbara"1
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