EU leaders to set up energy network

EU leaders will next week agree a plan to share sensitive information on the Union’s energy security, a move billed as the first step toward a common assessment of its energy interests abroad.

Meeting in Brussels on 14-15 December, heads of state and government will agree to establish a network of ‘national energy correspondents’ who will exchange information relating to the EU’s energy security.

Members of the group, who will come from member states and from the Commission, will be experts in both energy and foreign policy.

It is hoped that the pooling of information will allow the EU better to tackle threats to its energy security - such as Russia’s decision in January last year to limit the supplies of gas to Ukraine and Moldova.

According to one diplomat, the crisis in Ukraine, which disrupted supplies in Hungary and Poland, showed the EU was not making the best use of the information it has when formulating policies: "There were different rumours but we did not have a mechanism in place which would have allowed us to collect the information."

The diplomat said that if the network existed today it could be used to assess the potential impact of Russia’s plans to increase gas prices in Belarus and to plan the EU’s response.

Supporters of the correspondents plan admit that its success will depend on the level of information supplied by member states. For now, the network will not exchange highly sensitive intelligence material. Sources say the information transmitted will be limited to the lowest level of classification - ‘restricted’.

The idea was initially floated in June, when it received the tacit support of EU member states. But institutional turf battles are calling into question the project’s success.

It is still unclear whether the network will be led by the Council of Ministers’ secretariat-general or the Commission, although a paper put forward by the Finnish presidency of the EU yesterday (6 December) called on the Commission and its external delegations to play a co-ordinating role.

At least eight member states and Romania - which will join the EU on 1 January - have voiced concerns that the group will duplicate the efforts of the EU’s gas co-ordination group and a separate oil supply group. Others have argued that these two groups, unlike the proposed network of correspondents, simply respond to crises rather than seeking to influence them.

Member states’ divergent interests have also been painfully evident during discussions on the focus of the network. Germany has pressed for the correspondents to focus on gas supplies, while Poland has focused on disruptions to supply.

Although the network is voluntary, sources said that no member state has indicated that it would not participate. It is expected to be running in early 2007.

EU leaders will next week agree a plan to share sensitive information on the Union’s energy security, a move billed as the first step toward a common assessment of its energy interests abroad.