EU considers common energy policy amid national sovereignty concerns

The Austrian Presidency said the Commission had set the "right priorities". However, Energy Minister Martin Bartenstein said it is also important to promote alternative and renewable energy sources. "We want Europe to become a world champion in energy efficiency and renewables", Bartenstein declared, adding investments in new technologies such as biomass and biogas were "necessary". Bartenstein said he welcomed the "Commission's clear acknowledgement that the energy mix remained a matter for national governments," especially on the nuclear issue. "Austria has always been firmly against the nuclear option and would remain so in future", he said. 

France has already made its own proposals public in a memorandum circulated to EU finance ministers in January. The French memo is relatively close to the Commission's Green Paper but places more emphasis on nuclear power and research in next generation nuclear power stations (EurActiv, 23 Jan. 2006).

Meanwhile, member state representatives in the EU Council were polishing their recommendations to the EU spring summit on 23-24 March. The draft text from energy ministers supports the Commission's approach on "security of supply, competitiveness and environmental sustainability" as the three pillars of EU energy policy. It also insists on ensuring basic market rules are respected - transparency, non-discrimination, competition law - as well as public service obligations. However, it clearly underlines that action at EU level should "fully respect member states sovereignty over primary energy sources" as well as their "choice of energy mix". The draft also recommends developing a long term strategy on renewable energy, including biomass.

Foratom, the trade association representing the European nuclear industry, welcomed the Green Paper's "emphasis on including all power sources in the energy debate" but expressed disappointment that it did not go far enough in supporting nuclear power.

"Some countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK are already openly questioning the validity of their nuclear phase-out policies. Others, like Bulgaria, Finland, France and Romania are expanding their nuclear sector. Poland has decided to go nuclear for the first time", pointed out Foratom's Director General Dr. Peter Haug.

The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) said it "particularly supports the EU's desire to speak with the same voice on energy" and encourages diversification of energy sources. "For an energy-intensive sector such as the chemical industry, it is vital that we have access to all affordable and reliable sources of energy", says Peter Claes, Cefic Energy Committee Chairman.

The WWF criticised the Commission's proposals for being "guided only by concerns on security of supply" and for failing to "address climate change in a wider perspective". It said the Green Paper, although providing a good analysis of the energy challenges facing Europe, "is particularly weak on energy efficiency and renewable energies, as it does not call for targets or for strengthened legislation".

"The EU still seems to give priority to traditional sources, such as coal and gas that are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable", said Stephan Singer, Head of European Climate and Energy unit at WWF. 

Environmental NGO Friends of the Earth was even more critical. "Appallingly, the transport sector is largely absent in the paper, despite the fact that the sector accounts for about 70-80% of all imported oil," said FoE. "The paper lacks vision, targets and concrete proposals," it said.

FoE is particularly critical in the research area, saying nuclear is set to absorb "the lion's share" of EU research money under the 2007-2013 budget plans. "The current proposal splits the research budget into €4.8 billion for nuclear power and €3 billion for all other energy technologies," FoE points out. And it says most of the non-nuclear research money left "is currently likely to be dedicated for CO2 capture and storage rather than renewable energies".

Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington DC, says it is now "necessary" to define a "long-term vision for renewable energies" and "creating a sustainable non polluting hydrogen era" by 2030.

"Meeting the Lisbon agenda of becoming the most competitive economy in the world can only be accomplished if the EU establishes a seamless and integrated transport grid, communication grid and power grid across all of its member countries, so that the European Union can engage in commerce and trade with the same ease that the US enjoys across its 50 Member States," Rifkin says.