| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.16, 6.5.04 |
| Publication Date | 06/05/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Karen Carstens Date: 06/05/04 THE European Commission's economic and financial affairs directorate is blocking efforts to set a tough new EU target for renewable energy consumption by 2020, European Voice has learned. Failure to set a long-term target beyond an existing 2010 goal means Europe would host a global renewable energy conference next month in Bonn without the strong political leadership it has hitherto shown in the field. But a draft report on renewables presently wending its way through the Commission's corridors in inter-service consultation has now hit upon a stumbling block in Joaquín Almunia, who recently replaced fellow Spaniard Pedro Solbes as economic and monetary affairs commissioner. According to sources from within the Commission and non-governmental organizations, Almunia's directorate is the only one to openly oppose the idea of a 2020 target. "They are claiming the EU's emissions trading policy will support renewables," said Giulio Volpi, Brussels-based renewables policy officer with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "It will promote a switch from coal to gas, but it is unlikely to promote renewables. The EU needs a specific renewable energy policy." A spokesman for Almunia refused to comment, saying that renewables were not the responsibility of that directorate. The environment and development directorates are said to strongly back the 2020 target, but the enterprise directorate has also put forward some criticism. A spokesman for Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen declined to comment, saying that final details of the report had yet to be hammered out. But Volpi warns EU officials cannot afford to ignore this "fast-growing sector", adding that the wind energy industry alone now boasts an annual turnover of some €3 billion in the "old" 15 member states. The renewables report, drafted by the transport and energy directorate and due to be discussed by commissioners on Wednesday (12 May), is intended to serve as the basis of the EU's position in Bonn. "No target equals no political impact," Volpi said. "It would become just another "reporting tool" of the Commission." A renewables directive in place since 2001 aims to increase to 12% the share of renewables in total energy consumption by 2010. According to the draft report, however, the EU is likely to reach only a 10% renewables share. All but three member states - Germany, Denmark and Spain - are set to miss their own national renewable energy targets set under the law. Yet, in a recent letter to Transport and Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, WWF, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace called for an ambitious 25% target for 2020. They claim the draft report "puts the EU's world leadership on renewable energy at risk". Just to get to the 2010 target, the EU "needs to have a long-term perspective, because the financial world needs long-term security," said Volpi. Otherwise investments will go elsewhere, he warned. "A European target means national governments will have to extend their national targets and extend their national policies on renewables," he added. But de Palacio's spokesman Gilles Gantelet said the purpose of the report was not to come up with new long-term targets. Instead, it is intended to function as "a kind of "name and shame" exercise" to get wayward member states to stick to their voluntary national targets. "We are going to put pressure on them through this report," he explained. "Maybe we will come up with new targets. But we are not going to do it tomorrow. This is for the next Commission [to decide]." The International Conference for Renewable Energies, originally proposed by German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, will be held from 1-4 June. Article reports that the European Commission's DG Economic and Financial Affairs, now headed by Joaquín Almunia after the departure of Pedro Solbes, is openly opposed to setting tough new EU targets for renewable energy consumption by 2020. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Energy |
