By Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca is first vice-president of the European parliament and a member of the industry, research and energy committee - 13th June 2006
EU leaders must use this week’s summit to tackle energy demand problems as well as securing security of supply, writes Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca MEP.
Barely three months have passed since the spring summit where the EU’s heads of state and government agreed to take a decisive step towards a common European energy policy.
Then the European parliament congratulated the commission for its proposal and the council for the commitments they had taken.
Yet, this week, the council will be meeting again and we cannot help but feel disappointed to see that the only energy-related issue on the agenda is foreign relations.
Surely, considering that we currently import over 50 per cent of the energy we consume, supply side policies should be a top priority.
However, I feel that attention is once again being diverted, postponing once more the discussion on demand management as well as on other issues relating to supply, such as domestic energy production.
The European parliament recently adopted its report on energy efficiency in which member states were unanimously urged to fully implement European legislation on energy efficiency, increase significantly investments in research and development in energy-related technologies as well as in new sources, promote the use of cogeneration and boost their efforts in communicating to citizens about best practices.
All these measures aim to address the problem of demand management and are based on the firm belief most MEPs share that the EU should prioritise its efforts in attempting to influence what we can actually control: energy efficiency and energy generation.
Indeed, parliament’s statement that “energy efficiency is the largest, fastest and cheapest response to the challenges of energy security, rising and volatile energy prices and environmental concerns” is correct and it is a shame that council will wait another six months before dealing with this issue again.
Energy foreign relations are just a part of the problem. I understand the need to discuss this after the crisis between Russia and Ukraine last January exposed the vulnerability of our supply system.
However, I do not concur with the proposal to deal with this issue independently from the others because a way to avoid future situations such as the one experienced at the beginning of the year is to reduce our dependence on imports though improvements in our consumption habits – whether it be private, industrial or transport consumption – and diversifying our energy mix.
We will not be hearing member states debating over the pros and cons of nuclear power, nor will we get concrete solutions to the problem of interconnections or see commitments to increase investments in research and development.
These are issues that cannot be ignored for much longer as I retain the view that all the symptoms of a pending energy crisis are present and the only way Europe will be able to face it will be by taking concrete actions without delay.
Council does well in discussing relations with the main energy producing countries. The EU represents 450 million consumers and their rights have to be protected. This can only be done by reinforced dialogue with exporters.
My suggestion to the heads of state and government would be to study the possibilities of diversifying the existing supply routes.
At the present moment we rely mostly on imports from Russia and Algeria for gas and the Middle East for oil. We should start looking towards reliable and trustworthy allies such as Kazakhstan whose natural resources are abundant.
It is time to think outside of the box and look for alternatives outside as well as inside the EU.
The subject of energy has many faces to it and has to be addressed as a whole; otherwise we might be missing out on solutions that lie in our hands.
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