Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-16-Speech-2-322"
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"en.20060516.36.2-322"2
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".
I think this will be rather a long answer because it cannot be answered in just a few sentences.
This policy of diversification is not directed against our current suppliers: it is a necessity dictated by the global energy security challenges and by the challenge posed by global warming and other environment-related issues.
Together with the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, I recently sent a letter to the Russian Energy Minister, Mr Khristenko, on the issue of energy cooperation and in particular gas interdependency. In this letter we reiterated the importance the EU attributes to deepening energy relations with Russia, the EU’s most important energy supplier. Furthermore, we stressed that the importance the EU attaches to diversifying sources of supply should not be interpreted as limiting deliveries of Russian gas to the EU market, particularly as demand for gas in Europe is forecast to rise.
In this relationship with Russia, the EU is promoting such principles as market reciprocity, fair transit conditions through Russia and third-party access to infrastructure in Russia. Therefore, the short answer to the questions that have been asked is that we are looking for diversification, but it is extremely important to establish measures on the demand side, because only with demand-side measures, energy efficiency and savings can we actually establish our energy independence more strongly and, at the same time, look towards our goals of sustainability and competitiveness.
I would like to start by saying that today Russia plays a very important role in securing Europe’s energy supplies. Currently Russia provides almost 30% of the EU’s oil imports and 45% of our gas imports. Or, to be more exact, 25% of our consumed gas. As a result, Russia is the largest single external energy supplier.
A considerable amount of our Iranian imports are also provided by Russia, so the EU and Russian markets for crude oil and oil products, as well as natural gas, are tightly interlinked with numerous pipelines, maritime and rail links and numerous contracts that our companies have concluded with Russian suppliers.
A broad relationship and energy dialogue was established between Russia and the Commission in 2000. Moreover, the common economic space agreed during the EU-Russia Summit in May 2005 includes cooperation in a wide range of energy-related activities. So the energy dialogue aims to discuss issues related to energy policy and market developments, infrastructure developments, and EU-Russia cooperation in multilateral energy fora. I believe that Russia will remain an important supplier for the EU in the future.
Taking into account the expected growth of energy consumption in the EU, I expect Russia to continue to supply around 25% of the gas consumed in the EU which, in absolute terms, would mean an increase in supplies. The European Union and many countries worldwide are becoming ever more dependent on imported hydrocarbons. I would like to reiterate that in the long term there are only three countries that have a lot of natural gas resources: Russia, Iran and Qatar. At the same time, the EU will import 70% of its energy in 2030, compared with 50% today.
Over time, the remaining fossil fuel resources will become more concentrated, as I said, in a rather small number of countries. As a consequence, energy interdependence is becoming a global issue, with major shared concerns, such as increased demand for limited resources in the world, the lack of investment in new production and the climate change issues.
Therefore, a broad range of actions at EU and Member-State level are required to address these challenges. It has been highlighted in the Green Paper. I have just highlighted one of the actions in my answer to the honourable Member’s previous question about biofuels. That is one of the actions that we indicate.
The Green Paper emphasised opportunities, such as policies to improve first of all energy efficiency and energy savings, as well as enhancing the market penetration of renewable energy sources. It also highlighted external policy options, such as strengthening the framework for energy relations between the EU and Russia in order to give more confidence to both sides, as well as policies and measures to diversification of the geographical sources and transportation routes of external energy supplies to the EU.
In this context, it is important to underline that the EU is making continuous efforts to improve energy relations with other energy-producing organisations – such as OPEC, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the countries of the Caspian Basin and north Africa – as well as with the consuming regions in the framework of the International Energy Forum, the International Energy Agency, G8 and through bilateral agreements and dialogues."@en1
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