Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-094"
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"en.19991005.6.2-094"2
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"Mr President, ALTENER is part of a multiannual programme of measures in the field of energy policy for the period 1998-2002. It is concerned with the important aspect of alternative, renewable energy sources. The Commission’s proposal dates from November 1997. At the first reading in March 1999, the last Parliament adopted its position on the basis of the draft report by our former colleague, Carlos Robles Piquer.
With the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the legal basis has changed. The multiannual energy programme now falls under the codecision procedure. On 21 May 1999 – on the basis of the new legal position and directly after the Treaty of Amsterdam had come into force – the European Commission fundamentally altered and revised its proposal on the basis of Parliament’s decisions of 11 March 1999. On 28 June, the Council adopted its common position.
Today, we can see that both the Commission and the Council have, to a large extent, accepted our proposals, and speaking here as rapporteur for the Committee on Industry, I should therefore like to say a sincere thank you for the constructive cooperation in this matter.
At this second reading, Parliament now has to examine whether the common position requires further amendment. On 22 September, the Committee on Industry and Energy unanimously adopted a recommendation on this. It is a shared goal of Parliament and the Commission to increase the proportion of renewable energy sources to 12% of gross energy consumption within the Community by the year 2010. That is approximately double the present figure. This is an ambitious goal requiring considerable efforts. The compromises which have now been reached are only a step along this road. Parliament is convinced that it is necessary for the Member States in particular to make increased efforts. The resources we have for the ALTENER programme are so modest that this ambitious goal cannot be achieved.
The amendments we have tabled – nine in all – call on the Member States to make a voluntary commitment to promote renewable sources of energy. A charter should be used to overcome the fact that the European Union Treaty does not contain a specific chapter on energy policy. What is more, Parliament wants to include in Article 1, paragraph 1 implementation of the campaign to promote renewable sources of energy already called for by the 1997 White Paper. It also wants to create new instruments and mechanisms to promote rapid and coordinated penetration of the market by all sustainable energy technologies. In addition, the Eastern and Central European States and, as the Liberal Group has rightly requested, the Mediterranean States should also play an important role in implementation.
In Article 5 of the ALTENER programme, Parliament would also like to insert a reference to the new procedures for exercising powers of implementation in order to improve the participation of the European Parliament.
We are convinced, ladies and gentlemen, that part IV of the programme of several years’ duration consisting of measures in the field of energy policy cannot fulfil everyone’s wishes. In this connection, I should remind you of the second report being discussed today: the report by Mrs Ahern on energy efficiency. I should, however, also remind you that, in implementing alternative sources of energy, we have two major examples, namely water and wind power, which are already proportionately so important that the others, such as solar energy and also utilisation of biomass, will have to be promoted extremely intensively. I am very grateful and happy that you, Commissioner, now have responsibility for this important subject for, as a former Spanish Minister for Agriculture, you know that it is possibly much more sensible to reduce the surpluses achieved in the context of European agricultural policy than to make areas available for cultivation which could be exploited for utilising energy from biomass. I am aware, however, that there is quite a lot of resistance in this area and that we are encountering opposition from industry and also from those who formulate agricultural policy. We should all be striving, however, to combine agricultural and energy policy in the sphere of renewable energy sources. With this in mind, I should like to say a warm thank you for your valuable cooperation and hope that the report will be accepted by a majority in Parliament."@en1
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