Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-06-Speech-3-521-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110406.32.3-521-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, honourable Members, first of all, I would like to look at our long-term energy policy. We want to invite you to become involved with the Energy Roadmap from day one. For this reason, I am offering to meet with the groups from May onwards to discuss different scenarios for Europe’s energy sector for the decades to come.
Incidentally, Poland is currently planning a new nuclear power station. This means that the Poles want nuclear power to make up part of their energy mix, with the aim of becoming less dependent on gas and on the Russian Federation.
Mrs Harms, the Polish Government was democratically elected and is highly respected within its own country. We Germans in particular should not think that we always know better. I trust our friends in Poland to take security issues into consideration in just the same way as I trust you.
To the group chair, I would like to say that we have a tendency in Germany to want to decide everything in Europe. My advice is to take into consideration and to accept the democratic processes in Poland and in France with appropriate humility. I am speaking as a European. I know my own country of Germany and I respect the democratic processes in Poland, in France and in every other Member State.
However, any country whose energy supply is based on 90% coal will find it more difficult to get down to 0%. This is why my plans include the option of coal without CO
emissions. Anyone who is familiar with the situation in Poland, Romania or Spain will understand that coal has to be included as an option in the Energy Roadmap 2050, otherwise they will be ignoring the realities of democratically elected parliaments and governments. For this reason, I believe that research into carbon capture and storage (CCS) and demonstration projects are very important en route to another objective, which involves achieving a CO
free energy sector in the next few decades.
In Mrs Hedegaard’s road map, we have included a reduction of 10% in CO
emissions for the energy sector by 2050 compared with today’s levels.
As far as the subject of nuclear power is concerned, we all know that there are countries which currently have a moratorium on nuclear power stations or which want to shut them down, for example, Germany. Some of our neighbours, such as Switzerland, have postponed the planning process for new nuclear power plants. However, there are countries which are in the process of building nuclear power stations, Finland, for example, and there are countries which currently have nuclear power and are planning new plants and others which do not have nuclear power and want to build their first power plant. Therefore, I think it is very important, despite all these differences and differing cultures, that the stress test and the safety investigation with the highest safety standards should be introduced and accepted by all the Member States. It is a small but decisive common denominator which will ensure the highest possible levels of safety for countries with and without nuclear power.
Some speakers have mentioned the fact that the authorities should be independent. We have public control and supervision in a wide range of areas of life, including health, safety, road transport, energy, industry and other fields. I would like to express my fundamental confidence in the system of public supervision. Mrs Harms, you have made sweeping statements referring to the old boys’ network and suggested that the national nuclear regulatory bodies are not fulfilling their statutory tasks. I believe that this is a serious accusation which implies a lack of trust in your fellow Member Mr Trittin who, as German Federal Environment Minister, was responsible for this regulatory body in Germany for seven years. I have fundamental confidence in these bodies and we have the task of working with them.
Before the decision is made, I will be presenting you with a draft of the stress test and the test criteria in May in a way which is completely transparent. I will be interested to hear your suggestions on where the draft can be improved, added to or tightened up, with the aim of starting a process which will ultimately lead to broad acceptance among all the Member States and a high level of control. This stress test which we have been commissioned to develop by the Heads of State or Government is the first common European procedure for ensuring the highest safety standards in all 143 nuclear power plants. This is an innovation and a development which should win the support of Parliament and not be met with criticism and mistrust right from the start.
One scenario, in other words, one option with all the resulting consequences, will definitely involve setting the target for the proportion of renewable energy used in electricity generation as high as possible, even at 100%, which will have an impact on power grids, storage facilities, research, efficiency and a number of other factors.
My final point is that I inherited the Nuclear Safety Directive of June 2009, which must be transposed into national law by July of this year. I can say to you quite honestly that I feel that it does not have sufficient substance because it focuses primarily on implementing formal regulations, defining powers and specifying the requirements for supervisory bodies; in my view, it does not have enough core content. Therefore, in the second half of the year, while the safety investigation is going on, I would like to discuss with you, in line with the European Council’s requirements, the issue of how we can carry out an early, rapid revision of this safety directive and establish concrete requirements for the safety of nuclear energy at a European level.
However, at the same time, I would like to ask everyone to take the legal basis into consideration. The Treaty of Lisbon is only 18 months old and you were more closely involved in its creation than I was. The Treaty gives the European Union comprehensive legislative powers in the field of energy with only one far-reaching exception, which was included quite deliberately. The question of energy technology and the energy mix remains in the hands of the national parliaments.
We can argue about whether this was the right thing to do, but it is clear that the conclusions to be drawn from the events in Japan for the Energy Roadmap must be based on the Treaty of Lisbon and, as things currently stand, I believe that Article 194 is unlikely to be revised in the foreseeable future. I would like it to be revised and I believe that there is sufficient expertise at a European level with regard to the energy mix. However, for the next few years, energy technology and electricity generation are a matter for the Member States.
However, there is one restriction in place, which we agreed on together with the Member States. The target of 20% renewable energy restricts the powers of the Member States to the remaining 80%. Therefore, because we will have to reach a level of 20% renewable energy with the support and commitment of the Member States in nine years and will have to evaluate the situation constantly by means of progress reports, the powers of the Member States will be reduced to 80% or to even less than this. Why is this? This is because the overall figure of 20% will mean perhaps 10% renewable energy in the transport sector.
In the field of electricity generation, which is currently the focus of attention, we are aiming for a proportion of 35% renewable energy – water, biomass, geothermal, solar and wind energy – in nine years. This means that in three to four years, renewable energy will have overtaken coal and nuclear power in the electricity sector. I believe that we cannot praise this development process highly enough. A total of 35% renewable energy in nine years!
The Energy Roadmap will be focusing not only on 2050, but also on 2025 and 2030, in other words, the next decade, during which we must invest in technology, power grids and storage facilities. I am sure that we can come to a consensus on a percentage for energy generation of 40 + x% in 2030 and then reach a decision about this with the Member States.
Once renewable energy makes up a proportion of 40% or more, the Member States will only be responsible for 60% or less and this will mean that we will be making progress on the subject of powers at a European level with the knowledge and consent of the Member States. This may not be fast enough for some people, but without amending the Treaty of Lisbon, which is currently not realistic, the target will be 20%, then 35% and later 40% or more renewable energy. This means a clear shift of power towards European control and the European level.
When we look at the renewable energy scenario, we should also always consider what is happening in the Member States. One example is Poland, a large and up-and-coming country which I very much respect. In Poland, 90% of electricity is currently generated using coal. Ninety per cent! I do not believe that it is likely and, therefore, I would like to ask the Members of all the groups who are present from the large and up-and-coming EU Member State of Poland: Do you believe that the politicians in your country, regardless of who is in government, will be able to bring the percentage of coal down to zero over the next few years and decades? I do not think that they will."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"2"1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples