Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-12-Speech-2-062"
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"en.20020312.4.2-062"2
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".
Mr President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, I should first like to address cross-border trade in electricity. As the committee's rapporteur, may I say that the committee supports the Commission's proposal for a regulation. Cross-border trading must finally get underway so that producers can supply other Member States, enabling competition to be introduced between existing suppliers across the EU. There are five preconditions for this.
Firstly, the networks which operate the transit flows need to have their costs reimbursed from a fund. Secondly, it will only work if the same conditions apply throughout Europe, that is if there is regulation. Thirdly, both producers and consumers have to pay into the fund. Fourthly, these producer payments need to be standardised in the Member States to avoid any party being at a competitive advantage. Fifthly, there must be no internal duties, so no payments by so-called importers and exporters – which are in any case an odd concept in an internal market – and there must be no distance-related tariffs. What counts here is physics and not the law.
I should like to make three concluding comments on this issue. The place where the electricity is generated is significant. This depends on many factors. The committee will no doubt be flexible, even if additional so-called price signals, which meet the criteria that I have mentioned, are developed and applied. In Florence, the regulators, the networks and the Commission are of course reflecting on this.
The committee is not proposing to change the competences in the comitology procedure or in the fora. Since this is codecision, however, we propose that the situation be reviewed after four years to ascertain whether the procedure advocated here meets the requirements of codecision. After all, the regulators in the Member States and the experts, for example the network operators, should be involved in a regulatory process.
The regulation should not come into force before the directives which also legislate on changes in the electricity and gas markets.
This brings me to my second subject. Here I should like to make a few comments not in my capacity as rapporteur but as a member of the committee, and specifically, Madam Vice-President, for you to take with you to Barcelona.
Firstly, the Member of the Council which still only wants partial market opening – and we know exactly which one this is – is in contravention of the Treaties. I should like to make this absolutely clear here and it is also in the committee's motion for a resolution. These Treaties guarantee all EU citizens the freedom of establishment, the freedom to provide services and the freedom of movement of goods across the EU. These freedoms will only be implemented once all electricity and gas consumers are able to select their suppliers from across the EU. Only then will we have achieved conformity with the Treaties.
Secondly, if a Member State wishes to treat all the households in its country equally – for example all those between Lille and the Pyrenees – it may do so; it is free to make that decision. However, it can invite tenders for the work and ask which competitor is the most suitable and best qualified for the job. A supply monopoly cannot be justified. This too violates current law. It lends credence to the suspicion that people are lining their pockets illegally.
Perhaps I might make the following additional points on the reports. We support free choice for all consumers across the EU. We are in favour of all suppliers having access to the technical networks, which need to be managed in separate companies to prevent discrimination against certain types of supplier and to prevent abuse of dominant position within a company. We are in favour of having regulatory systems in the Member States to ensure that this is the case. So far – and here I fully agree with my fellow MEP, Mr Rapkay – this has not been satisfactorily resolved in any Member State. Like the Council I support a solution which takes account of the heterogeneity of the national network structures."@en1
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