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Activities of the European Commission
Activities of the European Commission
As in previous years, the European Commission was very active in 2008 in relation to energy issues, particularly as far as natural gas was concerned. Talks to approve the “Third Energy Package” were very involved, with agreements on undertakings sought simultaneously in both the European Parliament and the Commission itself. On 9 July the European Parliament gave its approval for an ITO (Independent Transmission Operator) model for the gas sector, as mentioned above.
The EU needs to take further steps to increase secure energy supplies and solidarity. The Commission believes that the current mechanism is not sufficient to offer the possibility of responding in time to a supply crisis, beyond the stage of certain mitigating measures at a domestic level.
Financial assistance for Trans-European Energy Networks, support for the diversification of supply sources and routes (such as the Nabucco and Medgaz gas pipelines, to give two examples) and help with the standardisation of technical regulations throughout the whole of the EU (e.g. at the Madrid Forum) are other issues that were further developed in 2008.
2008 saw the introduction of new projects in Europe, particularly in relation to LNG terminals. There was also progress in the projects currently in development.
The gas crisis that emerged between Ukraine and the Russian Federation (which led to a cut in supply of several days at the beginning of March 2008 affecting 17 countries, many of them EU member states and clients of Gazprom) served as a catalyst for the European Commission to become more involved in commercial energy dealings.
At the end of 2008, Europe reached an agreement on the design of a political agenda that would help ensure sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply, with a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases, an increase to 20% in the share of consumption accounted for by renewals and increased energy efficiency of 20%.
This has become known as the Second Strategic Energy Review:
The proposed agenda implies a substantial change to the European energy system during the coming years. This will involve public authorities, energy regulators, infrastructure operators and the energy industry itself, as well as the population at large. It means that political leaders will have to give very clear messages on energy strategy in order to achieve the targets set out in the Third Package (the now well-known triple-20).
As regards the target of ensuring that 20% of total energy consumption comes from renewables by 2020, each member state is under the obligation to provide the European Commission with a National Plan of Action on Renewable Energies by 30 June 2010. This plan must include measures aimed at achieving the overall target and individual targets for each sector. Together this forms what is known as the Green Package.The proposed agenda implies a substantial change to the European energy system during the coming years. This will involve public authorities, energy regulators, infrastructure operators and the energy industry itself, as well as the population at large. It means that political leaders will have to give very clear messages on energy strategy in order to achieve the targets set out in the Third Package (the now well-known triple-20).
The EU needs to take further steps to increase secure energy supplies and solidarity. The Commission believes that the current mechanism is not sufficient to offer the possibility of responding in time to a supply crisis, beyond the stage of certain mitigating measures at a domestic level.
A period of public consultations was held until the end of March so that member states, European institutions and individual companies could exchange opinions with a view to preparing a review of Directive 2004/67, dealing with the security of the gas supply.
A further point that should be made as regards this particular EU agenda is that the Commission proposed a series of items relating to the security and solidarity action plan that are expressly directed towards active efforts to strengthen:
- The necessary infrastructure and the diversification of supply sources.
- External energy relations.
- Oil and gas storage and response mechanisms in times of crisis.
- Energy efficiency.
- Making the best possible use of energy resources throughout the EU.
Financial assistance for Trans-European Energy Networks, support for the diversification of supply sources and routes (such as the Nabucco and Medgaz gas pipelines, to give two examples) and help with the standardisation of technical regulations throughout the whole of the EU (e.g. at the Madrid Forum) are other issues that were further developed in 2008.
2008 saw the introduction of new projects in Europe, particularly in relation to LNG terminals. There was also progress in the projects currently in development.
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Annual Report 2.008: Sedigas - The Spanish Gas Association