Energy Green Paper faces Baltic backlash

By Emily Smith

Date: 09/03/06

Plans for a common EU strategy on energy are running into difficulties as national differences emerge ahead of a ministerial meeting next Tuesday (14 March).

A Green Paper for a common EU energy policy published by the European Commission on Wednesday (8 March) will be the main topic of debate at an Energy Council next week and an EU summit later in the month.

It suggests limits on EU energy import dependency, an annual energy review, the creation of an energy regulator, improved relations with Russia and possible legislation setting minimum emergency gas supplies.

UK diplomats welcomed the "ambitious" discussion paper, which was given high level political impetus by comments from UK Prime Minister Tony Blair at an EU summit last October.

But the Baltic states, which have recently joined the EU, said the Commission had not done nearly enough. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have no energy links to Europe, and rely solely on Russia for gas supplies.

"How can we talk about a common EU energy market if we are not connected to the market?" said Romas S

vedas, deputy permanent representative of Lithuania to the EU.

He said the Green Paper description of the Baltic states as an "energy island" was appropriate, but "we would like the Green Paper to address our problem more strongly and propose more concrete measures. There is no awareness of our situation in the EU".

Svedas said the three countries would raise their concerns at the Council and "expect them to be in the summit conclusions".

Several large member states meanwhile could have reservations about the Green Paper emphasis on improving cross border energy links. France, Germany, Italy and Spain are currently caught up in controversy over attempts to block foreign takeovers of national energy firms.

But Commission President José Manuel Barroso was optimistic: "It is the member states who asked us for a common strategy. We are witnessing the growing pains of the internal market, but we have more of an internal market now than five years ago and there will be even more in another five years."

Anti-nuclear countries, headed by Germany and Austria, will find themselves dealing with a paper widely perceived as opening the door to greater use of atomic energy.

Barroso said that "we should not accept taboos in this debate. All sources of energy should be considered...a majority of member states have decided to keep - or even develop - nuclear power".

Friends of the Earth Europe, the conservation group, said the paper aimed "to ignite a new debate about nuclear power, the most dangerous form of energy".

An Austrian diplomat, however, said there was "no chance" the paper would lead to a change in Vienna's attitude to nuclear energy: "The paper very clearly states that the final decision [on the national energy mix] rests with the member state."

He also pointed out that more space was given in the paper to the importance of renewable energy than to nuclear power.

Faced with the challenge of getting past 25 national hurdles at the 23-24 March summit, Barroso said: "The question we will ask is: do we or do we not have the political will to force a common EU strategy on energy?

"The answer we are proposing is yes."

Article anticipates the extraordinary Energy Council meeting on 14 March 2006. Ministers were to debate the Green Paper on Energy, adopted by the European Commission on 8 March 2006. In the paper the Commission suggested among other things limits on EU energy import dependency, an annual energy review, the creation of an energy regulator, improved relations with Russia and possible legislation setting minimum emergency gas supplies.

European Commission: DG Energy and Transport: Energy: The Green Paper 'Energy' http://ec.europa.eu/energy/strategies/2006/2006_03_green_paper_energy_en.htm

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