Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-12-14-Speech-2-642"
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"en.20101214.40.2-642"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, energy efficiency has always been the biggest resource proffered to us. It is the sleeping giant with the hidden but enormous potential for the European energy economy. All that is true, and the nice thing about it is that it is so free of ideology. Above all, the approach to this issue can be technology-neutral.
All that interests us here, and it is a point that is clearly also a little divisive, is the issue of whether or not the targets are binding. I have to say, Commissioner, in this regard, that I like your two-stage approach whereby you start by trusting in the Member States and by building voluntary agreements and then, if we observe that we will not achieve the targets by 2020, we perhaps get the thumbscrews out. That is the right approach to take.
This report, by and large, moves in the right direction – there is little to criticise. There is one issue that I would like to raise, however, which is the role of the regional funds. You mentioned this issue, Commissioner. In the regional funds, together with the Cohesion Funds, we have an immense instrument in our hands in the European Union that we are not making use of. In this field of energy efficiency, we could finally create European added value which we could put to use in an innovative way to get to grips with energy efficiency in a way that has not happened in the past. As the current rapporteur for budgetary discharge for the Commission, I can see just how badly we have wasted money in the sphere of cohesion. Let us put a stop to that waste! I endorse the focus that you are giving to this issue, Commissioner Oettinger, and the fact that you are seeking to bring about greater use of these funds, including for this energy efficiency instrument. That is the only way that we will ensure that there really is cohesion, at least in the energy sector.
I feel I must warn against smear campaigns, as we saw with light bulbs and with shower heads. Such campaigns are the kind of things that alienate the citizens. We must thus ensure that we aim to achieve energy efficiency in general and that we keep this objective in mind without pursuing ideological smear campaigns that ultimately lead to the citizens losing their positive impression of the EU."@en1
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