European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs on Mar. 8 released a “major Green Paper” containing the European Union (EU) Commission’s “vision for an energy strategy for Europe” at a time when some member countries’ national considerations are superseding the EU outlook.
Recognizing that energy is a national strategic sector, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, said the question, however, was “to know whether the strategic center should be at national level or at European level.” Pointing to high oil and gas prices and supply threats looming over an increasingly vulnerable EU market, Barroso insisted, “It is time for a new European energy policy.”
The paper stresses that the completion of the internal market and the fight against climate change and for supply security are common energy challenges that call for common solutions. The paper identifies six priority areas: a common external energy policy; completion of the internal energy market; supply security; a sustainable, efficient, and diverse energy mix; energy efficiency and saving, and support for innovation.
Noteworthy are new measures advocated for completing the internal energy market, such as a European interconnection plan and proposed supply security measures that include a European Energy Supply Observatory and revised legislation on oil and gas stocks to deal with potential supply disruptions. The gas stocks proposal had been advanced and rejected by member countries a few years ago. The EU would add a third level of stocks to the 90 days’ supply required by the International Energy Agency and the varying number of days which each country determines separately. France’s oil companies, whose stocks are regulated by a committee, told OGJ through their trade group Union des Industries Pétrolières that they do not think it necessary to add another level to stocks build.
A common external energy policy, with Europe speaking with a single voice to its international suppliers, would give Europe greater clout in its dealings and ensure safer oil and gas supplies, the paper claims. It proposes that a strategic EU review of energy policy issues with an assessment and action plan be presented to the Council of Ministers and Parliament regularly.
The review would identify infrastructure priorities for supply security, including pipelines and LNG terminals, and see that they are built. For Europe alone, the paper reports, 1trillion euros would be required to replace ageing infrastructure, build new installations, and satisfy the expected energy demand over the next 20 years.
The paper also advocates a renewed approach to Europe’s oil and gas suppliers. It says it is essential to develop partnerships “reflecting our interdependence” with neighboring suppliers, including Russia, the EU’s most important energy supplier. Close cooperation with the EU’s other partners in the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas must also be developed, along with a new community mechanism to coordinate rapid responses to external emergency situations.
The commission indicated that it would propose a series of concrete measures to give substance to proposals in the green paper when it has been approved after widespread public consultation and the conclusions of the EU Council and Parliament. ✦
