Commission set to unleash energy plan

By Emily Smith

Date: 02/03/06

The European Commission will next week bid to put EU governments on the road to a common energy policy and a fully functioning internal energy market.

A Green Paper on energy to be published on Wednesday (8 March) will be submitted to EU energy and competition ministers the following week. It will then be the main topic of debate at the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on 23-24 March.

Building on the momentum from the Hampton Court summit last October and mounting concern over security of supply, the Commission is to argue the case for greater integration and co-ordination to reduce dependence on foreign gas and oil imports.

A draft of the paper, seen by European Voice, says "increased import dependency, higher energy prices and climate change are common problems for member states, and require a European response".

Solutions put forward for debate include improving access to the electricity grid in Europe and "common rules on regulatory issues that affect cross-border trade".

A Commission official said the Green Paper would begin to "help member states and companies complete the internal energy market. Everyone has now realised the EU energy market will be a reality, and there are rules that have to be enforced".

He said that energy companies were also showing a "growing interest in working beyond their borders", as shown by the recent flurry of cross-border takeover bids.

The final version might, he added, propose "some concrete measures, with the accent on completion of the EU internal market", but declined to comment on what they could be.

The paper also looks at improving the EU external energy policy, with energy imports expected to soar over the next 30 years unless action is taken.

A main aim should be increasing energy sources and transport routes, leaving countries less dependent on single source imports.

A third priority will be meeting EU climate change agreements, with national targets for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under the Kyoto Protocol now generally accepted to be out of reach.

Renewable energy could be one way of changing this, says the Green Paper, but it also opens the door to an "objective debate on the future role of nuclear energy".

The paper stresses that national energy choices ultimately remain with individual governments, but the double emphasis on climate change and nuclear power is likely to increase pressure on anti-nuclear countries to prove they have an alternative way of cutting CO2 emissions.

Officials said the Green Paper could lead to the creation of the first new EU policy area since the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.

A final report and proposals, based on the Green Paper and subsequent national discussions, are not, however, expected before the end of the year.

Questions put forward by the Austrian presidency of the EU for debate on 14 March initially asked energy ministers to discuss the possibility of tough EU-level action.

Following strong objections from member states, the questions have now been revised to ask ministers to comment generally on the paper.

Article anticipates the adoption of a Green Paper on energy by the European Commission on 8 March 2006.