Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-16-Speech-2-068"
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"en.19991116.5.2-068"2
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"Mr President, energy is at the heart of any economic or social activity. All citizens are affected by the supply, transportation and distribution of energy. There is still a lot to be done to ensure that the right to energy is a reality everywhere, both in the poorest countries and in industrialised countries, where all classes of the population do not have access on equal terms: needs are not therefore being satisfied and energy-related issues are becoming crucial.
The European Union is still highly dependent on energy. CO2 emissions have not yet been stabilised and energy sources have not yet been diversified. Designing an energy policy which respects the environment therefore requires determined effort. In this respect, the fifth UN Conference on Climate Change has just confirmed the divergences between those with pro-active policies and those who are continually attempting to circumvent the Kyoto targets. The European Union is itself undertaking to ratify the Kyoto Protocol by the year 2002 and is campaigning for measures which are different for developing countries and for industrialised countries. Its CO2 emissions were reduced by 19% in 1997. In this way it may contribute, I believe, to preventing the Americans’ exclusively commercial liberal concept gaining the day, a concept which goes as far as to call into question the Kyoto targets.
Yet, Europe has not made sufficient effort, and there is no guaranteed response to all these challenges. There is, therefore, cause for concern in the fact that the Commission and the Council continue to regard opening the energy market to free competition as an essential phase. As the Chichester report indeed observes, there is a contradiction between liberalisation and the reduction of CO2 emissions. But this is not the only contradiction. Market pressure is also exerted on public service tasks: the most effective centres of resistance to unbridled free competition and public enterprises are under threat. Furthermore, the call for competition restricts the capacity of States to intervene in energy policy choices and to guarantee equal access for users. Energy is not like other goods for sale and must be treated as a special case. Greater cooperation and the coordination of national policies are required, not an integrated European policy.
Finally, the rapporteur is astonished, rightly so, that the Commission makes no mention whatsoever of nuclear energy even though it contributes towards reducing CO2 emissions, even if this energy should be safer and more environmentally friendly. Such key issues merit extensive public debate, enabling everyone to come to terms with the challenges and choices involved in energy policy."@en1
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