Towards the Common European Energy Policy?

Recent events (the Ukraine-Russia Gas Dispute at the beginning of the 2009) have demonstrated the need for the European Union to develop a Common Energy Security Policy (CESP). But the creation of the CESP is not a new idea.

Four years ago the decision to begin the process of creating a new European Energy Policy  was agreed at the Hampton Court European Summit in 2005.

The European Council wanted to demonstrate that it is serious about the EU´s promise to meet its Kyoto commitments. Simultaneously the European Council reacted to the fact that oil prices had risen to 70$/barrel. So the Council called on the Commission to develop a new European Energy Policy with the three underlying goals of Sustainability, Security of Supply and Competitiveness. The European Commission, on the basis of its so-called Strategic Energy Reviews, prepared several measures to meet the underlying goals.

The first Strategic Energy Review focused on what is now widely known as the "20-20-20 initiative" - that the EU should commit, by 2020, to:

• reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990 levels,
• increasing the level of renewable energy from about 8% of its energy mix today to 20% and,
• making a 20% improvement in its energy efficiency levels - in other words, reduce its energy consumption by 13% compared to 2006.

In March 2007, at the Spring European Council in Brussels, the Heads of States and Governments committed to emission reduction and increasing of the level of renewable energy by 2020. It is necessary to have the right technologies to achieve the goals of the EU´s Energy policy. So the European Commission submitted the SET-plan (Strategic Energy Technology Plan) in 2007 and the European Council adopted the SET-plan in March 2008. This plan is focused on funding of low-carbon technologies, future energy technologies, research institutions and other specific matters.

The Second Strategic Energy Review was tabled by the European Commission in November 2008 and focused on energy security. The document considers the challenges likely to be faced between 2020 and 2050 and begins the discussion about the EU response to these longer term challenges. The essential component of the Second Strategic Energy Review is the EU energy security and solidarity action plan.

The aim of the Action Plan, proposed by the European Commission, is to complement the measures formulated in climate-energy package, to ensure the achievement of all three of the EU´s core energy objectives: Sustainability, Competitiveness  and especially Security of Supply.

The Action Plan consists of five components:

- Infrastructure needs and the diversification of energy supplies,

- External energy relations,

- Oil and gas stocks and crisis response mechanisms,

- Energy efficiency,

- Making the best use of the EU’s indigenous energy resources.

In December 2008 the Council and Parliament succeeded in reaching agreement on concrete proposals to become a reality in a very short time. They agreed on a revision of the ETS Directive, providing clarity regarding the approach that will be followed for the period 2012-2020. Secondly, a new Renewable Energy Directive has been agreed, putting into effect the overall target of 20% renewable energy in the EU's energy mix and 10% of its transport fuel from biofuels by 2020 in the form of legally binding obligations on Member States.

The third pillar of the 20-20-20 initiative is energy efficiency. The reduction of energy consumption will reduce energy imports, boost household incomes, increase the competitivenes of EU industry and contibute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Second Strategic Energy Review acknowledges that the EU has already taken steps forward in developing a new European Energy Policy by putting the 20-20-20 targets into practice. The Document states, the 20-20-20 package will reduce energy consumption in the EU in 2020 by as much as 15%. It is supposed that it will lead to a reduction of expected imports of energy by up to 26%.

The Council of the European Union (The Energy Council) will deal with „the Communication from the Commission on the Second Strategic Energy Review“ during its February meeting (19.2.2009).