Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-17-Speech-3-287"
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I shall be happy to deal with this issue in somewhat more detail although, if I have been correctly informed, I shall be able to adopt a more thorough position on it at 9 p.m. today, the Council having said that it is prepared still to be in this House at that time and to take part in this debate.
These important issues were also brought up for discussion very recently in a letter from the Energy Commissioner, Mr Piebalgs, and the President of the Energy Council, Mr Bartenstein, to the Russian energy minister, Mr Christenko.
The Council attaches the very greatest importance to the issue, addressed by Mrs Andrikiene, of a common and coordinated energy policy for the European Union. I should point out that, in the conclusions to the informal Council meeting in March on the subject of ‘A New Energy Policy for Europe’, the Council referred to these problems and made relevant decisions on this issue under the heading ‘Energy policy for Europe’. It was stated, in this context, that Europe has many challenges to meet in the energy sphere, notably the increasing dependence on imports and what has so far still been limited diversification. In the conclusions, the Council therefore calls quite clearly for an energy policy for Europe that is focused on an efficient Community policy and on coherence between the Member States and between the measures taken in the various policy areas and that, in a balanced way, adequately fulfils the objectives of security of supply, competitiveness and environmental sustainability.
I should like to mention in this context that, precisely where the energy issue is concerned, a careful examination needs to be made of what comes under the powers of the state and what can be done in this area at European level. Synergy effects must be obtained in this sphere. The European Council has also stated that the security of energy supply should be increased, partly by developing a common external concept and by promoting energy dialogues between the European Union and its most important partners and stronger diversification in terms of suppliers, transport routes and external energy sources.
The European Union and the Council too will, in the next few weeks, be devoting particular attention to precisely this aspect of external policy. Using the existing structures as a basis, the Council will join the European Commission in working towards a more effective form of dialogue between the European Union and Russia. It will not be long before the summit offers the opportunity to explore this issue, which will also be one of the important topics at this summit. With a view to ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty, the Council is also calling for the negotiations concerning the Transit Protocol to be completed. The legal framework offered by these instruments would increase the transparency and competitiveness of the energy markets and, at the same time, help create more favourable investment conditions in those countries that are parties to the Treaty.
In the framework of this common energy concept, a genuine energy partnership with Russia too should be possible, and security and predictability guaranteed for everyone. It should be pointed out that this topic has not just come out of the blue. Rather, the Council has for a long time already been developing an interest in this type of efficient and coordinated energy policy. This issue has only now become particularly topical, specifically at 8 a.m. on 1 January 2006 – eight hours after the Austrian Presidency had begun – when, as is well known, developments took place in which Russia interrupted the energy supply.
The gradual construction of a legal framework for energy, be it through the promotion of renewable energy sources or through the successive liberalisation packages, which by the summer of next year will guarantee a complete opening-up of the common energy market, is already contributing to a coordinated and common energy policy, rightly called for by Mrs Andrikiene.
When it comes to the diversification of energy sources and transport routes, the very recent acceptance of the decision on trans-European energy networks is an important step in this direction. The conclusion of the Energy Community Treaty with the South-East European countries, on which I shall be able to explain my position in detail in the next debate at 9 p.m., also contributes to achieving this objective, as the internal concept of the energy market is extended to include neighbouring countries.
In this connection, the Council looks forward with interest to the evaluation of the energy strategy which the Commission wishes to submit to the Council and Parliament in the course of next year and which deals in particular with the targets and measures required for an external energy policy in the medium and long term.
Where, finally, the issue of the G8 Summit is concerned, I should like to point out that the Council does not of course belong to the group of G8 countries and does not therefore take part, as the Council, in the meetings, either. It is, however, prepared to deal with the issues of mutuality and transparency in other relevant forums such as the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue."@en1
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