Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-23-Speech-3-080"
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"en.20080123.6.3-080"2
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"Madam President, first of all I would like to thank Members for the general line of strong support for our proposals. I understood correctly that this House is very committed to this very important matter and sees it as one of the most important challenges, if not the most important, for our generation. I would like to thank you for that.
Some of you were concerned about the need for more investment in technology. I agree with that. Let us keep this in mind when we discuss the next financial perspective. I think we have to do more. I agree, because for carbon capture and storage, which is a very important and promising technology, we need capital. By the way, regarding the auction revenues of the Member States, we are proposing that the Member States assign a part of them to the fight against climate change. Let us hope they will accept that.
Let me tell you from my contacts with the Member States during all these processes one thing that I have already made public. Sometimes, when discussing climate change, I remember what John Stuart Mill said about his father. He said that his father loved mankind in general, but hated every individual in particular. Let us hope our Member States and some of our national politicians are not like that. If they want to fight climate change, they cannot just love the agenda politically and afterwards not commit to precise targets and methods. This is an important issue.
What the Commission has done today is to translate those goals and intentions into concrete measures and into instruments that are transparent. Are they perfect? Let us discuss it. We believe they are reliable, fair and effective. We believe it is important, as Mr Hökmark said, that we also rely on the market. We will not enter into the energy mix of the Member States – that could be a discussion without end. We are not claiming that this or that is the best option. We are saying that now a goal has been unanimously agreed by the Member States of 20% use through renewables – for obvious reasons we have had to put the emphasis on renewables, because we have to give some clear incentives to the market – it is the market that will decide on the best technology and source of energy. We are not giving more precise instructions, because that is not what we have to do.
But, please, think about the difficulty involved. We are applying general rules and principles and instruments to 27 very different situations, in terms not only of economic development but also of energy mix, the history of those countries and the culture of awareness of some of these problems. It is unavoidable that, in the end, there will be some differences. The important thing is to have a coherent approach. I believe that we have come here today with a coherent approach.
I am looking forward very much to the necessary discussions at legislative level and I really believe that, with the spirit of partnership we have seen on other important pieces of legislation, we, together with the European Parliament and the Council, will reach a very ambitious and, at the same time, realistic proposal.
We were asked to come here immediately after our meeting, so we cannot yet have an in-depth discussion, but let me tell you that the Commission would be happy to participate actively in such a debate – myself, Commissioner Dimas, Commissioner Piebalgs and the other relevant Commissioners. We will be ready to discuss with you all details of this very important set of proposals.
Let me start by saying that some of your comments were based on earlier work and not on the proposals that we are putting forward today. It is important to understand that the proposals are the ones adopted today by the College. The work was done over months – it is a very complex issue. You have had access, as has the press, to some staff work, very important work, but the decision was taken only half an hour precisely before coming to this House.
I believe it is a very balanced decision – ambitious, but, at the same time, balanced and fair, and we are very proud. I think we have gained time. I think the fact that we have one more month to build a strong consensus in the Commission helps us gain time for the adoption, hopefully in this Parliament, of the whole package. I understood the point made by Mr Sacconi and by Ms Ek about the need to do it, but let us put it like that. Let us not see the time until June 2009 as the home straight for this Parliament; Let us finish the work of this Parliament with a bang, with a climax, by adopting these very important proposals!
Let me say that, from my contacts with the governments of our Member States, namely with the current Slovene Presidency and the upcoming French Presidency, I thought that there was a strong determination to do it fast, to go ahead with it, to make it a real priority. And, if we do it as well here in the Parliament, I really believe it will be possible to get this package approved – after the necessary negotiations, of course, and we are ready. We do not pretend our proposal is perfect. I think it is possible that this Parliament, during this term, will achieve a very strong consensus around a very ambitious set of proposals.
We have highlighted the difficult and political points. Let me just make a final comment about this. One is the question of balance between ecological commitment and the need to reduce our greenhouse gases and, at the same time, the need to address fears that exist in some parts of our industry regarding some effects on international competition. Let us make it clear: we are not making an exception for any sector of our industry. All of them are going to be involved in this. What we are considering is just in case there is no global agreement, but the global agreement remains our goal and our priority. Yes, there will be some measures to cushion the impact of this factor in some of our industries, because we want, of course, to protect the economy of Europe and we want to protect our jobs in Europe. This is the important thing, and we believe we have reached a very balanced solution.
Regarding the point made about burden-sharing among Member States, we have decided to do it broadly as follows. We are going to see the concrete proposals regarding renewables. As you know, the target set was 20% of energy use through renewables. We are, today, at 8.5%, so we have to go for 11.5% more. We have decided, broadly speaking, to make half of that subject to a flat rate – everybody has to make the same effort. The other part of it, we have decided, will be according to GDP per capita. It seems to us the fairest method, because it is a way of giving more possibilities to those that have more resources to invest than the poorest Member States. I think it is fair. We have adjusted this with the criteria of flexibility for those countries that have made an effort already, so as to give some kind of prize or bonus to the early starters.
All the methodology will be transparent. We are going to present it. We believe it is a good and fair proposal in terms of burden-sharing among Member States. I am quite hopeful that it will be well received by most of our Member States. Anyway, the scenarios will be transparent, the methodology will be presented, and if the Council and Parliament can find a better solution, please do. We think, in the end, that this will be the solution, because it was technically sound and also very fair.
Regarding the problem of biofuels, we agree with most of what you said. The question is that today there are no sustainability criteria for the biofuels that are already being produced in the world and are already circulating. What we are doing now is establishing, for the first time ever, high-level criteria of sustainability for biofuels – domestic and imported biofuels – once again keeping in mind that what we want is a global agreement. Today there is no global agreement: in Latin America they do it one way, in the United States they do it another way and in Africa another way. Therefore, we need an international regime for the sustainability of biofuels, and this is what we are doing: promoting a new generation of biofuels. Therefore, while accepting all the criticisms of those who said that there are some risks with biofuels – and we agree there are – let us compare the alternative. We are proposing an alternative that is much better than the current situation."@en1
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