Заседание test окончателен a6-0426/2006

OPINION of the {INTA}Committee on International Trade

Draftsman: Helmuth Markov

The Committee on International Trade calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Stresses the global dimension of the objectives of sustainable energy use, fair competition, fair access to resources and security of supply and the resulting need for a multilateral approach to energy policy, within the framework of the United Nations and international organisations, particularly the IEA, the OECD, the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank; calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to support, within the internal and external action of the EU and, particularly, in those bodies, the idea of a global agenda and a joint strategy based on an in-depth assessment of the worldwide energy and climate situation and aimed at achieving energy savings and efficiency, use of decentralised, renewable energy sources, decoupling of energy demand from economic growth and promoting sustainable development throughout the world; calls on the Commission and the Member States in this connection to pay particular attention to the aspects of diversification, decentralisation and energy efficiency; strongly supports the aim of developing a comprehensive common European energy policy and stresses that it must have a coherent, strategic and focused external dimension, including trade policy;

2. Supports the progressive opening of the services markets in the energy sector, and in particular the fullest application of multinational trade rules and disciplines to the petroleum and natural gas sectors;

3. Underlines the important role of the international trade system and trade agreements in providing a stable and predictable regulatory framework to increase investment and generate the appropriate environment for new innovative energy solutions;

4. Points out that the finite nature of conventional energy sources and the very high, and growing, consumption in major industrialised countries and emerging economies could lead to further price rises, which may have a negative impact on production costs, added value, export prices and trade balances; considers it necessary, therefore, to switch, for energy supplies, towards renewable and other alternative energy sources, to reduce losses occurring in the transport of energy and to step up support for the development of new technologies and energy infrastructures;

5. Supports the more widespread production and use of biofuels, particularly those obtained from the industrial processing of agricultural products, and of second-generation biofuels, with a view to reducing the energy dependency of the EU and underpinning development and employment levels;

6. Considers that energy savings and energy supply contracts should expressly include the supply of a package in which different sources of energy should be combined according to efficiency and cost-saving criteria;

7. Considers that non-compliance with, or non-ratification, of the Kyoto Protocol entail comparative disadvantages for the EU economy by virtue of the effects on production costs and trade volume; calls for agreements on climate and environmental protection to be taken into consideration within the WTO framework; stresses the obligation to ensure compliance with international and European safety regulations regarding the construction and operation of nuclear power plants;

8. Considers it necessary to make serious efforts to put in place an international climate protection regime for the period after 2012;

9. Calls on the Commission to develop strategies whereby added value can be generated by the export of technology in the fields of energy savings and energy efficiency, thus creating jobs in Europe; 10. Calls on the Commission to push within the WTO for specific rules on the transparency of the energy market as well as on State aid and other trade distorting measures in order to promote fair competition; asks the Commission and the Member States to propose the establishment of a price-setting mechanism at global level and to provide the European Parliament with an assessment of the convenience and feasibility of the creation of a World Energy Market Observation System;

11. Asks the Commission to propose and promote an international agreement on energy efficiency;

12. Notes that research in the field of energy technologies is an important step on the way to opening up export markets; therefore calls on the Commission to continue supporting research into all sources of energy (conventional, nuclear and renewable) so that Europe, as well as exploiting such research for its own purposes in the EU Member States, may also open up export markets;

13. Considers that emissions trading can help encourage more energy conscious behaviour, provided that emissions limits provide genuine incentives for energy savings, provided that all major economic areas participate, and provided that emissions trading does not result in distortions in the market or in emissions simply being moved from one place to another;

14. Regards the Energy Charter as a possible starting point for the creation of a regulatory framework for international trade and investments in the energy sector;

15. Supports calls for gas prices to be decoupled from crude oil price movements;

16. Stresses the need to promote decentralised energy supplies with short energy chains, based on the use of locally available resources, including the use of biomass and the development of biofuels, in order to help reduce dependence on imports and minimise expenditure on intervention for energy policy reasons;

17. Considers that the future of nuclear energy must be closely linked to a solid strategy at internal and external level to deal with the safety of nuclear material, radiological protection and joint R&D programmes for the reliable disposal of nuclear waste;

18. Recalls that the EU must remain a key player in initiatives such as the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy or the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor;

19. Calls for greater support to be given, for example through knowledge and technology transfer, to the use of sustainable, locally available forms of energy and decentralised energy networks in particular in developing countries, in order to ensure access to energy, save resources, create jobs, reduce dependency and assist the development of properly functioning market economies;

20. Calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to engage, as a matter of urgency, in a close dialogue and cooperation with all large consuming and producing countries, particularly the US, India, China, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council, in order to establish effective and coherent frameworks and partnerships, which should contribute to a more stable, predictable, transparent and non-discriminatory global rules-based market;

21. Insist that the Commission should, as a matter of principle, require compliance with universal services obligations, in both its offers and requests in connection with energy services within the framework of services agreements at bilateral and multilateral level;

22. Calls on the Commission to speed up the implementation of the Trans-European Networks programme which aims at improving interconnections between the EU and neighbouring countries including Russia, the MEDA and Caspian Sea regions, on the basis of common strategies for exploiting energy resources and for accessing the transport infrastructure;

23. Highlights the valuable contribution that the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) can make in achieving the objectives on energy, and urges the Commission to promote initiatives to ensure its adequate development in the EU and in third countries;

24. Shares the Commission's view that Europe has not yet developed fully competitive internal energy markets, and that on the basis of current trends the EU's energy imports would be increasingly concentrated, and that energy prices are rising steeply at the international level; calls, therefore, for an intensified monitoring of the deregulation process within the European energy market; points, however, to the need to create a favourable framework for renewable energy sources;

25. Welcomes the Commission’s Sector Enquiry on Gas and Electricity Markets; notes that increased concentration in the EU internal market may aggravate existing distortions, thus requiring the improvement of Member States' and the EU's regulatory capabilities in order to guarantee consumer rights and compliance with EU energy efficiency.

OPINION of the {ECON}Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Draftsman: Jan Christian Ehler

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. supports the Commission's adoption of an approach to energy policy based on the assumption that economic competitiveness requires a stable and predictable regulatory framework respectful of market mechanisms;

2. supports an integrated approach to energy policy, which takes the objectives of security of energy supply, competitiveness and environmental sustainability including climate change equally into account;

3. stresses that establishing an internal EU market in energy, with the option of extending it to include non-member countries, could make a vital contribution to security of supply;

4. urges Member States not to seek solutions to supposed national interests with regard to the security of supply to the detriment of a functioning internal market;

5. stresses the particular importance of effective regulatory structures and the endowment of national regulatory and competition authorities with power proportionate to preventing market dominance and establishing a functioning internal market with a view to ensuring affordable energy prices; stresses its support for the Commission's sector inquiries and urges the Commission to make full use of all available instruments to deal with breaches of competition law;

6. points out that the current tax burden accounts for a large proportion of energy costs and stresses therefore that the competitiveness of European industry should be supported by the implementation of energy policy objectives - such as improvement of energy efficiency or the promotion of renewable energies - and consequently positive incentive mechanisms - i.e. "Green Taxes" should be chosen;

7. considers crucial the objective of reducing the EU's dependency on imported oil in order to mitigate the impact of higher international energy prices on the EU economy and its citizens;

8. calls for the implementation of fair competition rules in the energy sector as a way to improve competitiveness;

9. considers it appropriate that the possible expansion of the regulatory framework must be deferred and that, instead, the implementation of existing EC rules in the Member States must be accelerated; considers that additional regulatory measures should be considered only if the mechanisms envisaged in the existing legislation on the internal market have not proved effective in practice;

10. clearly states that it is inappropriate to set up new institutional structures at European Union level if this entails the creation of overlapping competences and additional bureaucracy, or if the tasks to be tackled by such structures could be carried out by institutions in the Member States or existing networks; encourages the Commission, in this context, to play an active part in optimising the potential of such stuctures;

11. clearly states that it regards technology-oriented, non-discriminatory and increased support for research and development relating to the use of competitive environmentally friendly technologies as making a vital contribution to ensuring secure energy supplies and affordable energy prices;

12. believes that there is an urgent need to improve the investment conditions in respect of power plant capacity and energy supply infrastructure by means of simplified and streamlined approval procedures and streamlined legal procedures; emphasises, in this context, that decentralised energy infrastructure and generation can contribute to improved energy supply security and should be promoted in the formulation of energy policy strategies;

13. warns against state-controlled restriction of supply caused by discrimination against particular energy sources; draws attention to the adverse impact of such course of action on security of supply, energy prices and competitiveness;

14. endorses the inclusion of energy policy aims into the formulation of criteria for awarding public contracts if it is feasible for the awarding authority, reasonable for the respective tender and if it does not represent unfair intervention in competition;

15. states that last winter's failure in the gas energy market of several Member States, has already resulted in the relocation of enterprises of energy intensive industries; considers it to be necessary in this context to examine opportunities to promote solidarity between Member States and to consider dealing with this issue as a priority in order to ensure the proper operation of both existing and future interconnectors; notes that for a fully functioning market and mutual assistance in the event of supply disruption, particular attention to design criteria between Member States is necessary, which may have cost implications.
PROCEDURE

OPINION of the {ENVI}Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Draftsman: Evangelia Tzampazi

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Welcomes the Green Paper on a European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy;

2. Stresses that the European Union is committed to the objective of tackling climate change and therefore of limiting global temperature increase to +2°C compared to pre-industrialised levels;

3. Recalls the need for a legal basis in order to pursue a common European policy in the field of energy, which will secure a safe, affordable and decentralised efficient energy economy whilst protecting the environment; insists that transport is a key component of such a sustainable energy policy and must therefore be fully addressed;

4. Urges the Commission, given the present situation of 25 separate Energy Regulators in the Member States, to complete a review of the role of Regulators within each Member State together with a full assessment of the potential need for a European Energy Regulator;

5. Stresses that the current use of fossil fuels to produce energy is adversely affecting the climate and above all leading to shortages and depletion of these resources, making the Member States dependent for energy on exports from outside the EU; therefore demands that the proposed action plans both for Energy Efficiency and for a Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy be sufficiently ambitious to lead to a 20% cut in our current energy consumption by 2020, be accompanied by a monitoring and control mechanism and be consistent with each other;

6. Stresses that energy security and climate security must go hand in hand and that all efforts to diversify energy supply should give priority to energy efficiency and low-carbon alternatives, with a priority to renewable energy sources;

7. Stresses that energy and climate security for the EU depends to a considerable extent on developments in countries like the US, China, India etc, and urges the Commission and Council to increase efforts to engage these countries in climate change mitigation; considers that one important initiative would be to assist financially developing countries like China and India to invest in more efficient and low-carbon energy technologies;

8. Points out that geo-thermal energy as well as wave energy represent huge potentials in terms of energy supply, including in Europe, and should be vigorously pursued;

9. Recalls the importance of raising the awareness both of the industry and citizens concerning the rational use of energy and prevention of energy waste and calls for wide-ranging information and education campaigns to be launched; calls also for the promotion of renewable sources of energy.;

10. Urges that the European energy strategy should include ambitious targets in order gradually to increase the share of low-CO2 energy sources in its energy mix; supports the idea of agreeing an overall strategic objective such as aiming for a minimum level in the overall EU energy mix originating from secure and low-carbon energy sources;

11. Points out that the EU's dependence on imported energy has already had a significant effect and will continue to weaken the EU's independence in its decision making in other policy areas, unless strong measures are taken to support the development and use of indigenous energy sources;

12. Welcomes, in the context of the Green Paper, the Commission's recent initiative to undertake a study "addressing the interlinkages between natural resource management and conflict in the Commission's external relations", and stresses in particular the links between energy security and climate security;

13. Recalls that 40% of the EU's energy is used in buildings; supports the idea of extending the current buildings Directive to all buildings; in this context asks the Commission to assess the possibility of creating a pan-European system of 'white certificates' in the field of energy efficiency;

14. Calls for adequate attention to be given to the transport sector in the strategy;

15. Calls for binding targets for CO2 emissions from cars, i.e.120 grams CO2 per vehicle/kilometre by 2012; considers that these targets should be lowered further by at least 10g per km every two years thereafter until a ceiling of 80g/km for all road vehicles is reached in 2020;

16. Calls on the Commission to submit the implementing measures for products with a high energy-saving potential within the framework of the EUP Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-using products, OJ L 191, 22.7.2005, p. 29) by spring 2007 at the latest.

17. Considers it alarming that the targets set by the European Union for increasing the use of renewable sources of energy for 2010 will probably not be met by all Member States; calls on the Commission to take the necessary measures to ensure that the objectives set will be achieved;

18. Insists that increased efforts are needed in research and technological demonstration particularly in the new Member States, to encourage and develop even more effectively the use of renewable sources of energy; stresses the importance of introducing tax incentives for the use of biofuels in the transport sector, which may also make a contribution as an alternative source of income in some rural areas of the European Union;

19. Sees a need, in this connection, for increased approximation and harmonisation of support for electricity from renewable energies so that they are used above all in places with the best natural conditions; believes that, according to current knowledge, a European feed-in law would be the best possibility, but that other systems may also be taken into consideration;

20. Hopes that the roadmap on renewable sources of energy provided for in the Green Paper will prove ambitious, put the emphasis on research, and include an annual mechanism for evaluating the targets met;

21. Calls for consideration to be given to the possibility of guaranteeing and prioritizing access to the grid for energy from renewable sources; calls for a coordinated effort to create a more favourable framework for micro generation, and for the possible benefits of decentralised generation in general to be considered;
22. Draws attention to the high demand for primary energy and high potential for savings in relation to heating buildings, and therefore supports the announcement made by Commissioner Piebalg to the effect that he will be submitting a directive on environmentally friendly heating systems before the end of 2006;

23. Recalls that renewable sources of energy are already competitive today in some cases and require only start-up funding or the removal of barriers to their entry into the market, and that, where higher costs still remain, greater weight must be placed on the risks linked to other energy sources, such as CO₂ production and the importing of raw materials from politically unstable regions.

24. Recalls that a long-term diversification strategy for energy sources will benefit from the implementation of a level playing field, i.e. ensuring that comparisons between sources are made with full internalisation of their external costs (waste, dismantling, resource depletion) and taking into account their respective environmental benefits;

25. Calls on the Commission to show its interest both in renewable sources of energy and in saving energy and to integrate these policies in all actions funded by the structural and cohesion funds (mainstreaming) and in particular those of the European Regional Development Fund for all regions of the Union without exception, taking account of their specific features, during the next programming period (2007-2013); )

26. Stresses the need to create more ambitious goals for the revision of the Emissions Trading Directive as part of the strategy presented under the Climate Change Chapter;

27. Calls on the Commission to submit in 2010 a mid-term evaluation of the action proposed in paragraph 25 and finally an ex post evaluation at the end of the programming period;

28. Considers that the impact of the European Union’s actions would be considerably strengthened by a strong external policy aimed at persuading all industrialised countries to join the fight against climate change and by greater inclusion of clean and efficient energy programmes in the Union’s development policy.