Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-02-Speech-1-087"
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"en.20030602.7.1-087"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that today’s debate is an important one. We are about to enter the final phase of the legislative process relating to the range of measures on the internal energy market.
Secondly, following our contacts during the tripartite dialogue, we have reached an agreement amongst the co-legislators on the basis of an interinstitutional declaration and a Commission declaration on control and transparency in the management of those funds. In particular, Mr President, and in accordance with the request of the Conference of Presidents, I would like to refer to the statement which the Commission will make, a statement which corresponds to the Commission as a whole and which has been debated within the College of Commissioners. In the statement, the Commission points out the importance of guaranteeing that the funds established for decommissioning and waste management activities relating to the objectives of the Euratom Treaty are managed transparently and used solely for those activities. Within this context, and within the limits of its responsibilities in accordance with the Euratom Treaty, the Commission intends to publish an annual report on the use of the funds for decommissioning and waste management. In particular it will stress the need to guarantee the full application of the relevant provisions of Community law.
Therefore, the Commission will review the situation of the funds and their use in an annual report, which will be transparent and will be communicated to this House. Thanks to the specific directive and the Commission's report, I am satisfied that this issue is coming to fruition and that it will impose greater transparency in relation to these funds because, ladies and gentlemen, although you proposed it here, in Parliament, I believe it is something that concerns all of us, and that in the meantime the facts have proved us right with regard to the need to deal with this issue, and I am thinking specifically of something that happened over recent months in a company in Great Britain.
Mr President, I would like to repeat that the Commission accepts all those amendments which are in line with the agreement reached.
I would like to end by thanking Parliament once again and in particular the three rapporteurs and the delegation which has participated in the negotiations with the Council and the Commission within this informal tripartite dialogue which we have carried out and for the constructive work they have done with regard to all these measures. I believe that, without this fundamental contribution, we would not be on the point of creating the most integrated internal energy market in the world, a market which means, furthermore, implementing the Community model, that is to say, liberalisation together with regulation, something which previously was thought to be contradictory, but which, as we in Europe are demonstrating, can be combined: the advantages of the market and the maintenance of a cohesive society, from which nobody is excluded, which not only looks after the weakest, but which also thinks of the future, of future generations and specifically of the protection of our environment.
I would insist that I consider it important to bear in mind that this package is emblematic within the Lisbon process, the objective of which, we must remember, is to create a more competitive Europe, with an economy which by 2010 will place the European Union at the cutting edge of international economic activity, with a knowledge-based society, full employment and also respect for the environment.
I would particularly like to stress the extremely positive role the European Parliament has been playing throughout this procedure, in the quest for the result which I hope we will achieve during this part-session. The European Parliament has always firmly supported the Commission in its efforts to create a competitive and integrated internal energy market, which furthermore means moving beyond national markets.
I would sincerely like to thank the three rapporteurs, Mr Turmes, Mr Rapkay and Mr Mombaur, for the fantastic job they have done. And I would also like to mention the shadow rapporteurs and the other members of the committee who have participated actively over recent months in particular in order to achieve this positive result; I would particularly like to express my gratitude for the efforts of the delegation which has been negotiating within an informal tripartite dialogue so that we could hold this discussion today and on Wednesday reach an agreement in this Parliament allowing us to achieve a definitive text.
The compromise we are reaching does not differ substantially from the Commission’s initial proposals. What is more, these proposals have subsequently been reinforced by a series of points following first reading by Parliament, particularly with regard to the public service aspects laid down in the Directives. Once this series of measures has been established, all European Union consumers will be able to choose their provider from 2007. Small consumers will not therefore be deprived of this right and of these internal market advantages.
From a structural point of view, many of the obstacles to fair competition will be removed, in particular the lack of independence of system operators and the absence of effective rules. At the same time, the public service requirements have been reinforced, largely, I would insist, at the request and on the initiative of this Parliament, with the universal service obligation in the electricity sector and strict protection measures for vulnerable consumers.
The range of measures includes an essential component relating to the internal electricity market, that is, the Regulation on cross-border electricity exchanges which lays down clear rules in order to facilitate trade in the European Union. Although Parliament and the Commission would have liked to have made quicker progress with regard to a series of points, such as the opening up of the market and legal separation, I consider it essential that the directives establish unconditional dates and that the regulatory framework is clear for the industry.
Everybody now knows what the rules are going to be and I would therefore insist that this is a very important step forward. The common positions have improved the results of the parliamentary amendments, above all with regard to labelling and the competences of the regulatory authority. The degree of influence of the parent company over the activities of the network operators has also been clearly defined.
There is an aspect which I would like to deal with expressly this afternoon, because it is one of the most controversial aspects. It is of course the issue of the funds for decommissioning nuclear power stations. We all know that it is an essential part of the agreement reached. So much so that the last Conference of Presidents has included it as a specific point in this afternoon’s debate, Mr President. I would like to present the Commission's positions with regard to it. Firstly, as I said on the occasion of the debate on these texts at first reading, the Commission fully shares Parliament’s concern that the funds reserved for decommissioning and waste management should be spent as they were intended to be. On 30 January 2003, the Commission adopted two proposals for directives relating to a Community strategy and standards on the safety of nuclear power stations and the treatment of waste. The first of them focuses specifically on the issue of funds for nuclear decommissioning. I would like to remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that I committed myself to this before Parliament at the first reading of the legislative package, and that in January 2003 I gave the response I had committed myself to at that time."@en1
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