Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-07-Speech-1-093"
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"en.20050307.12.1-093"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start with warm thanks to the rapporteur, who has worked outstandingly well with us, so that we have managed, in a short time, to bring a long-standing project to a successful conclusion. The object has been to give people in Europe the opportunity to exercise free choice as regards access to gas suppliers, with a wide range of services on offer, and to open up the market. We have attempted to define the framework conditions that will be required if this is to be achieved: the calculations of rates to be made public, the calculation of costs to be transparent, and wide-ranging requirements for information on the part of the network operators. All these things will play a quite central role.
On the other hand, there must of course be balance, and that is what we have endeavoured to bring about. Those who run the networks must be able to see that their interests are being safeguarded. There is no point in imposing conditions so stringent that all the network operators lose interest. Here, I think we have been smart in striking a balance by opening up the market and offering consumers new opportunities, while also, at the same time, keeping the operation of gas networks economically interesting. Who else is meant to do it?
We took as the basis for our deliberations the voluntary agreements and guidelines for best practice agreed on in Madrid in 2003. I think it was astute of us to build on a consensus of this kind, and so I agree with Mr Seppänen that it will be helpful to bear that in mind when voting on subsequent developments. Like the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats as a whole, I take the view that this means it was a good thing that we did not have this Regulation make reference to the storage of gas, on which there was as yet no consensus, and I am not persuaded either that there are any compelling reasons for there to be a legal regime on this. Voluntary agreements are preferable where they are in place. Not everything has to be adopted and made binding in law, and we should wait and see how this process progresses from now on in.
I would add that the gas market should be allowed a certain amount of time in which to develop. This presupposes that the national governments transpose what we specify into law. Only after a period of time has elapsed will it be possible to assess the regulation’s effectiveness, and so I ask that we, once we have adopted it today, allow that to happen and then review the way the situation develops."@en1
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