Berlin aims to tackle energy challenge

The beginning of this year started with Europe-wide panic over energy, as Russia’s decision to interrupt gas supplies to Ukraine left several member states short of power and all of them fretting about security of supply. The European Commission response to this temporary gas crisis has taken a year to develop.

The resulting wide-ranging EU energy review is scheduled for publication on 10 January, less than two weeks after Germany takes over the rotating EU presidency. It will be one of the issues to dominate Berlin’s six months in office.

The review package will contain papers on renewable energy, nuclear power, biofuels, clean coal and the internal gas an electricity market, as well as an overall ‘strategic energy review’. In some cases the papers will be followed by proposals for legislation.

They will raise questions about taxation, foreign policy and EU competencies, to name just three points of contention.

Germany is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge. Wilhelm Schönfelder, Germany’s permanent representative to the EU, has singled out energy as one of the presidency’s "difficult issues".

Germany will have two months to draw up an energy action plan based on the review package. Work for this will be concentrated on a meeting of environment ministers on 22 February. The plan is then supposed to come up for adoption by the leaders of the 27 national governments at their spring summit on 8-9 March.

A presidency official said it was impossible to say, before publication of the review, exactly what energy issues Germany would focus on. Schönfelder said Berlin would be happy to work with "whatever the Commission comes up with".

Reinhard Silberberg, state secretary to the German foreign ministry, has predicted that attention will focus in particular on drawing the line between EU and national energy responsibilities.

Berlin has said it is keen to increase the use of renewable sources including wind and biomass, but is anxious to make sure member states have the final word on their own energy mix.

Germany is particularly sensitive to this point because of its own decision to phase out nuclear power. By contrast, a Commission green paper on energy, published in March as a precursor to the energy review, was widely seen as opening the door to the increased use of atomic energy.

This and many other energy issues stemming from the review will interact with German priorities for environment policy (see below)

The German government will also have to handle the delicate matter of improving cross-border energy co-operation. The review will contain communications on a ‘priority interconnection plan’ for energy networks, as well as prospects for the internal gas and electricity markets. The idea of a single EU energy regulator could also be up for discussion. The energy review is expected to be adopted at the same time as the results of an inquiry by the Commission’s competition department into national efforts to protect their energy markets.

The Commission could follow any or all of its cross-border initiatives with new regulations. Commission President José Manuel Barroso has said he is confident of German support, because Germany is also drawing up its own national plans on cross-border energy issues.

Outside the EU things do not get any easier for the presidency. The security of supply worries that inspired an EU energy review mean governments will also have to rethink their relations with suppliers such as Russia and Algeria.

The beginning of this year started with Europe-wide panic over energy, as Russia’s decision to interrupt gas supplies to Ukraine left several member states short of power and all of them fretting about security of supply. The European Commission response to this temporary gas crisis has taken a year to develop.