EU members lean to less ambitious energy plan
16/2/2007 16:27
European Union energy ministers yesterday leaned to a less ambitious
energy policy, refusing to set a mandatory target for renewable energy and
remaining undecided over split of energy giants.
Energy ministers from 27 EU
member states, who held a special meeting in Brussels to hammer out a common
energy policy, agreed with a proposal from the European Commission to increase
the use of renewable energy, but rejected to set a legally binding target.
In
a bid to ensure energy supply and cut greenhouse gas emission, the European
Commission, in its ambitious energy policy package released last month, proposed
to increase the use of renewable energy to 20 percent of the EU's total energy
consumption by 2020.
The EU executive arm had sought to make the target
mandatory for member states, a decision which has to be made by EU leaders at
their March summit.
However, the energy ministers, whose meeting was a
preparation for the summit, insisted that the target should be
voluntary.
Though some members like Germany and Spain are ready to achieve
the goal, several countries see no priority of renewable energy over other
sources.
The 27 EU member states did reach a conditional agreement on another
proposed binding target for 10 percent of vehicle fuel to come from biofuels by
2020.
The energy ministers agreed that the 10 percent target was binding but
subject to technological breakthrough and necessary legal changes.
"The
binding character of this target is subject to production being sustainable, to
second generation biofuels becoming commercially available and the fuel quality
directive being amended accordingly to allow for adequate levels of blending,"
the ministers said in a joint statement.
The EU current goal for biofuels is
5.75 percent by 2010.
On the internal side, EU energy ministers failed to
decide on a proposal to spilt big energy companies into production and
distribution businesses.
"We didn't reject and we didn't endorse," said EU
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, "we endorsed the goal."
Stopping short
of a clear-cut decision, the ministers called on the European Commission to
elaborate on its proposal "taking account the characteristics of the gas and
electricity sectors and of national and regional markets", according to a
statement.
Last month, EU regulators proposed breaking giant energy groups
into separate production and distribution businesses under an "unbundling" plan,
which aims to make networks accessible to companies without their own grids and
guarantee consumers fair prices.
In a report presented to the ministers
yesterday, European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes concluded a recent
inquiry into the energy sector by saying that full ownership unbundling would be
the optimal solution to address the problems of the European energy
market.
Problems highlighted in the report include too high concentration of
the energy market, insufficient unbundling of network and supply activities and
absence of cross-border integration as well as cross-border
competition.
"This state of affairs is undermining our shared objective of
ensuring secure, affordable and sustainable energy supplies," Kroes told the
ministers.
The plan, however, was particularly opposed by France, which put
forward an alternative based on its own system where energy producers are, with
certain safeguards, allowed to own distributors.
"It is not always easy to
reach a common decision," said German Minister of Economics and Technology
Michael Glos, whose country is holding the EU presidency.
Xinhua
|
