Opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee on Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion (95/C 210/20)

At its 6th plenary session, held on 1 and 2 February 1995 (meeting of 2 February), the Committee of the Regions unanimously adopted the following Opinion of Commission 5 (Land-Use Planning, Environment and Energy), drawn up by the Rapporteurs, Mr Simonsen and Mr Jensen. Two supplementary Opinions covering the same subject drawn up by Mrs Bolger (CdR 22/95 Appendix 2) and by Mr Evans (CdR 22/95 Appendix 1) have been incorporated.

The Opinion of the Committee of the Regions refers to the following document: Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee on 'Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion.

The Commission Communication

In order to strengthen economic and social cohesion and to alleviate the disparities between rich and poor countries and regions in the EU, the Commission proposes to provide special help for the most disadvantaged countries and regions, e.g. by establishing a more comprehensive infrastructure in the energy sector.

An unsatisfactory energy infrastructure would inhibit economic growth in the weak Member States and regions - and, in the final analysis, damage economic and social cohesion.

The Commission proposes an energy policy strategy designed to bolster the objective of greater cohesion between the EU's weak and strong Member States and regions.

This is to be done by:

- systematically taking account of the cohesion aspect when the EU is formulating its energy policy;

- integrating energy with the other EU policies, e.g. regional policy (including the Community initiatives), agriculture, environment, transport, research and social conditions;

- introducing a number of back-up measures to improve the weaker countries' and regions' infrastructure, their energy efficiency and their scope for tapping their own energy potential.

The Communication indicates that the Commission has set four main aims for energy policy:

- to achieve security of supply;

- to promote energy efficiency;

- to limit environmental damage;

- to establish the internal energy market.

These main objectives are to be achieved (a) by linking them to the aforementioned relevant EU policy fields, and (b) with the help of a range of back-up measures, namely:

- Trans-European energy networks: extension of linked gas and electricity networks, expanding rural electrification schemes, ensuring better electrical supply quality, providing support for network management.

- Energy efficiency: energy audits to ascertain the scope for energy saving, local/regional projects to improve energy management in urban areas, promotion of EU energy programmes, refurbishment of heating systems, assistance with the purchase of efficient equipment and support for information and training schemes.

- Renewable energy sources: investment projects to promote electricity generation from renewable energy sources, and promotion of electricity and heat generation from waste, biomass and solar energy.

GENERAL COMMENTS

1. The Committee of the Regions welcomes the Commission Communication on Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion, which sets out an energy policy strategy designed to strengthen the economic and social base of the EU's less-favoured regions.

The Committee regards it as vital for the Community to set parameters which give local and regional authorities maximum flexibility for the practical formulation of initiatives, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle; the Committee therefore supports the Commission's wish to confine its action to recommendations, applications and support arrangements. In the Committee's view, this would ensure consistency between local/regional self-government and central policy-making.

2. The Committee of the Regions can support the main principles of:

- improvement of energy supply security and quality;

- improved utilization of energy raw materials;

- improved exploitation of local energy sources, especially biomass energy and waste;

- improvement of air quality in Europe;

- the Committee of the Regions considers it essential to promote energy saving and environmental conservation incentives, for instance through charge and subsidy arrangements.

3. The Committee of the Regions supports the Commission's strategy of integrating economic and social cohesion into energy policy, and of using energy to contribute actively to strengthening this link. This strategy involves:

- establishing an overall approach, or investigating the links between energy and cohesion with a view to highlighting how energy can help to strengthen cohesion, in connection with both energy policy and other policies (regional development, agriculture, environment, transport, research, social conditions). Here it is important to incorporate an energy policy dimension in these spheres;

- introducing a range of back-up measures covering energy infrastructure, energy efficiency and use of the region's own potential.

4. The Committee of the Regions also supports the Commission's strategy based on the following two pillars:

- Energy policy/cohesion, with the cohesion aspect taken into account in energy policy.

- Other policies, which will take account of energy's potential contribution to cohesion. This applies particularly to the Community's cooperation with non-member countries.

5. Moreover, the Committee of the Regions can endorse the idea of integrating the energy systems in Europe as closely as possible, while taking account of regional and structural differences; this would help to reduce disparities in terms of energy efficiency and access to energy. The cohesion objective must therefore be integrated with energy policy and given an active role to play.

6. The Committee considers that efforts should be made in the less developed regions to build up technological knowhow, training and information, and to adapt the institutional and legal frameworks in order to promote energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources.

7. The Committee of the Regions endorses the basic idea of trans-European energy networks which would enable certain regions to attain the objectives set out in the Communication and which would ensure:

- greater resilience in coping with crises on the global energy market;

- potential for closer cooperation with eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

8. The Committee of the Regions endorses the Commission's intention to create more favourable conditions for extending the networks, partly by simplifying national approval procedures. However, the landscape conservation aspect looms large, and the major problem in many countries is that the approval procedures for new networks are very protracted. Thought must therefore be given to including in the EU plan, as a prime objective, measures enabling the Member States to simplify the approval procedures for the extension of new networks, while duly respecting national and regional policies on landscape conservation. A specific EU objective can exert considerable influence and promote the establishment of trans-European networks.

9. The Committee of the Regions supports an internal energy market which seeks a certain harmonization of market conditions in order to ensure equal terms of competition for suppliers in all countries, provided that each Member State retains the option of formulating its own energy and environmental policy, so as to take account of its historical development and its energy, environmental and social policy priorities.

However, the Committee feels that the need for EU-directed management of the network should be considered separately from plans to establish an internal energy market under fair competitive conditions.

SPECIFIC COMMENTS

Energy programmes

10. The Committee of the Regions takes the view that the more detailed rules for implementing the Thermie programme should be adjusted to allow for conditions in the less developed regions. Bodies in or near these regions which are concerned with promoting energy technology could carry out detailed work to establish which innovative technology is best suited to their energy requirements, and take steps to support the economic decision-makers who are interested in applying such technology and those in a position to introduce it.

The Committee also welcomes the programme's emphasis on training.

11. The Committee of the Regions endorses the projects in the Joule programme concerning the least-developed regions, first and foremost for renewable energy sources.

At the same time the Committee endorses the Commission's proposal to allow research bodies in the least-developed regions to cooperate with institutions outside these regions on projects covered by the Joule programme. This is intended to improve the qualifications of teaching staff throughout the EU.

12. The Committee considers that a special approach must be adopted for regions which have less scope for taking some of the measures proposed in the SAVE programme, such as certification of buildings, development of bodies concerned with third-party financing and energy audits.

13. The Committee thinks that attention should be given to the institutional and financial aspects in the less-favoured regions involved in the Alterner programmes. It is important to remove legal obstacles and provide investors in renewable energy sources financing terms at least on a par with those enjoyed by the large energy companies. External factors should also be taken into account.

Other EU programmes

14. The Committee of the Regions supports the Commission's proposal to provide Interreg support for establishing bodies responsible for drawing up and implementing various measures for the common utilization of the regions' own potential, and thus to promote the transfer of knowhow among the regions. These measures should however include specific training initiatives.

15. The Committee feels that specific reference should be made to the important contribution made by Adapt. This scheme comes under the European Social Fund's new Objective 4 (workers' adaptation to industrial changes), which subsidizes training in the rational use of energy. The main aims of Adapt are to help workers adjust to changes, to improve firms' competitiveness through training, to reduce unemployment by improving workers' skills, and to create new jobs and new activities. These cover, inter alia, the energy sector, and help to boost cohesion within it.

Energy planning and management

16. The Committee of the Regions considers that a thorough understanding of the contribution of regional energy programmes to regional economic development is contingent on such programmes being carefully assessed, inter alia by applying objective criteria and developing a suitable methodology.

17. The Committee stresses the need for the integration of energy management with environmental, land use, and transport planning and emphasizes the important role that local and regional authorities play in such integration.

In addition the Committee notes that there is a need to clarify the projects which can be implemented in connection with energy planning in regions and urban areas. Special attention should be given to efficient use of energy for heating and air conditioning for transportation, to air quality and prevention of health problems. Regional and local authorities must lead the way in energy efficiency by ensuring proper management of the buildings for which they are responsible.

18. The Committee agrees that the Commission should attach importance to energy management measures as well as catering for network extensions where appropriate in rural, island and remote areas. Here the coordinated use of decentralized power/heating production (e.g. in Denmark) is of interest.

19. The Committee feels that emphasis should be placed on management of gas, electricity and heating networks and energy management in urban properties, on high quality energy services, including information to the population in order to improve energy efficiency, and as a rule on projects to improve energy efficiency in urban areas (urban environment).

20. The Committee welcomes the measures to create cross-border links, and the idea of involving representative bodies, harmonizing legislation and encouraging people with differing experience and background to work together, inter alia in connection with the exchange of experience and knowhow transfer networks, such as FEDARENE for the Regions, ENERGIE-CITÉS for the Municipalities and ISLENET for the islands.

21. The Committee also endorses the Commission's efforts to limit CO2 emissions, as well as the Community's and Member States' commitments in relation to the framework convention on climatic changes.

Air quality should enjoy high priority in the EU's energy policy. Environmental requirements should be harmonized at a high level, if necessary by introducing a common CO2 and energy tax and by harmonizing taxes with a view to securing energy savings and a cleaner environment.

Training and education

22. The Committee of the Regions maintains that increased attention for the development of human resources and training measures would ensure effective transfer and use of knowhow, dissemination of technology and better management of the resources in the energy sector, thereby strengthening cohesion between the Member States.

23. However, training measures in the energy field must be compatible with the energy needs and potential of the region concerned. A number of EU research activities in the energy sector, such as the Joule and Thermie programmes, have had difficulties in disseminating technology to less developed regions. They cannot simply be lumped together: a flexible approach, taking account of differing local conditions and needs, must be adopted.

24. The Committee supports the Commission's proposal to set up organizations for the promotion of energy technology (OPET) under the Thermie programme, to research the specific conditions in the less developed regions and to take steps to support the economic decision-makers who are interested in, or in a position to use, the technology, and those who could be trained to use it.

25. The Committee adds that support should be given to local groups concerned with identifying how their special needs can be catered for. The training programmes must take account not only of local bodies' capacity to assist seconded experts, but also of their ability to provide on-going support for the project when the expert has left. Networks which support 'cascade operations' in connection with knowhow transfer should be promoted with assistance from, or by employing, suitable experts.

Research and Development

26. The Committee of the Regions underlines that reference should be made to the proposed special RTD programme for the training and mobility of research staff under the fourth framework programme (1994-1998). This will play an important role in strengthening cohesion in the energy sector, since it provides training and research outlets for scientific institutions and researchers in the EU's less favoured regions. The programme provides for distance learning in the less favoured regions and supports measures which promote their involvement in the programme. Telecommunications are very important for remote areas.

27. The Committee points out that it is essential to initiate cooperation between instructors, researchers and information specialists in order to coordinate activities and to avoid unnecessary duplication and waste of resources. Comprehensible reports on energy policy and projects, as well as conferences and seminars, should be promoted as part of that effort. In addition, a central database should be set up, to be used both reactively for answering queries and proactively for disseminating available information as widely as possible. The database should include information obtained from government and non-government bodies, universities and research institutions throughout the EU. The local and regional authorities have an important role to play in promoting closer cooperation at grass roots level.

28. The Committee agrees that the economic and social dimensions, together with the development of training measures, are key aspects of energy policy.

Funding

29. The Committee of the Regions also endorses the idea that, before any funding arrangements are drawn up, the Commission's basic energy strategy must be implemented (see point 4 above). To qualify for support, projects must undergo an environmental impact assessment and be eligible for support from regional and local authorities.

Done at Brussels, 2 February 1995.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC

() OJ No C 217, 6. 8. 1994, p. 18.

() OJ No C 217, 6. 8. 1994, p. 5.

APPENDIX I

Supplementary opinion of the Committee of the Regions

On 26 July 1994 the Committee of the Regions, acting under Article 9(1) of the Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up a Supplementary opinion to be annexed to the main Opinion on the communication from the Commission on Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion.

The Commission on Education and Training, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Supplementary opinion on 5 September 1994. The Rapporteur was Dr John Evans.

This Supplementary opinion is enclosed with the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions (CdR 22/95) adopted at its sixth plenary session (meeting of 2 February 1995).

1. Introduction

The Committee positively supports the Commission's objective of integrating economic and social cohesion into the Community's energy policies and the overall approach proposed in the Communication to achieve this.

It stresses the importance of attitudinal change in the development of energy policy in particularly with regard to the elimination of waste which necessarily involves education and training policy.

1.1. The disparities that exist between the regions in the efficient use of and access to energy can be attributed to an inequitability in the matters of efficient resource management, of adaptation to renewable energy resources, new technologies and new working methods in the energy field.

1.2. The Committee of the Regions maintains that only through increased emphasis on the development of human resources and training measures can there be effective transfer and application of know-how, technology diffusion and better management of resources in the energy sector which in turn strengthen cohesion between the Member States.

2. Specific comments

2.1. The Committee considers that there should be a specific reference to the important contribution of the Adapt initiative which comes under the new Objective 4: 'Adaptation of workers to industrial change' of the ESF, where training measures in the rational use of energy are given support. Moreover, the main aims of the Adapt initiative are to adapt workers to changes, to improve the competitiveness of firms through training, to prevent unemployment by improving qualifications and to create new jobs and fresh activity. These cover the energy sector amongst others, thereby contributing towards greater cohesion in the energy sector.

2.2. The Committee supports the strong emphasis given to training within the Thermie programme concerned with the promotion of new energy technologies in particular the transfer of know-how and technology to SMEs and information and training in the less favoured areas through local associations' cooperation.

2.3. Increased focus on training measures should, however, be given in all other community actions concerning the energy sector.

2.4. The Committee endorses the Commission's call for regional development programmes to include the proposed supporting measures, in particular to enable training programmes to be set up and to support local and regional bodies responsible for preparing and carrying out the proposed supporting measures, since they play a vital role in human resource development.

2.5. Training measures in the field of energy should, however, be compatible with the energy needs and endogenous potential of the region in question. Difficulties in disseminating technologies to less developed regions have been experienced in a number of Community research activities in the field of energy such as Joule and also in the Thermie programme. Good practice therefore cannot be applied unquestioningly. There has to be a flexibility of response which takes into account different local circumstances and local needs.

2.6. The Committee supports the Commission's proposal for Organizations for the Promotion of Energy Technology, (OPETs) within the Thermie programme to carry out research on the specific characteristics of the less developed regions and to identify and support the economic operators interested in and capable of using the technology as well as those who could be trained to do so.

2.7. The Committee adds that support should be given to local groups engaged in identifying ways of addressing their particular needs. It stresses that training programmes must take into account not only the ability of local agencies to provide the back-up for visiting experts but also their ability to provide follow-up support to the project once the expert has left. Networks supporting cascading operations in the transfer of knowledge should be encouraged with secondment or employment of appropriate experts.

2.8. It endorses the Commission's proposal to strengthen the association of research bodies from the less developed regions in partnership with those situated outside their regions in projects covered by the Joule programme since this improves training potential of trainers throughout the EC.

2.9. The Committee maintains that reference should be made to the proposed specific research and technological development programme in the field of the training and mobility of researchers within the 4th Framework programme (1994-1998) which should play a vital role in strengthening cohesion in the energy sector, enabling scientific institutions and researchers in the less favoured regions of the Community to gain training and research opportunities. The programme introduces the possibility of training through distance learning for the less favoured regions and supports measures encouraging their participation in the programme. It adds that the Committee of the Regions' Opinion on Socrates () also emphasized the importance of electronic communications for remote areas.

2.10. The Committee stresses that there is a vital need to draw together trainers and researchers as well as information disseminators in order to coordinate action and to avoid unnecessary duplication of work and a waste of resources. User-friendly reports on energy policy and projects, conferences and seminars should be promoted to support these efforts. Moreover, a central database should be set up which should be both re-active by responding to enquiries and pro-active in seeking to disseminate and publicize the information available as widely as possible. The database would include information from governmental and non-governmental agencies, universities and research institutions across the EU. Local and regional authorities have a key role to play here in promoting greater cooperation at grass roots level.

2.11. The Committee also supports the Commission's call for special treatment for less-developed regions within the SAVE programme who have a lower capacity for implementing certain recommended measures such as building certification, due to lack of trained technicians. Technicians as well as technician trainers should be given opportunities to train or to retrain in order to meet approved and accepted standards within the EU.

2.12. Moreover, it agrees with the Commission that the results of regional and urban energy planning schemes should be taken into account, especially within regional development programmes since they contribute towards a better appreciation of the training requirements and better coordination of measures with regional and national authorities.

2.13. The possibility to grant aid within regional and urban energy planning for setting up local or regional teams to advise users on the rational management of energy should be stepped up. Moreover, a more coherent training component should be incorporated into this measure.

2.14. The Committee supports the Commission's proposal to implement actions concerning the setting up of bodies responsible for organizing and implementing various schemes for the joint exploitation of endogenous potential, within the framework of Interreg, thus promoting the transfer of know-how between different regions, yet calls for specific training measures to be included in these actions. It recalls the Committee of the Regions' Opinion on the future of Community initiatives under the Structural Funds () which supported the promotion of cross-border measures in the field of education and training within the Interreg initiative.

3. Conclusions

3.1. The Committee maintains that the challenge of developing human resources should not be solely faced by targeted programmes. A horizontal approach is necessary so that all Community actions in the energy sector contain specific training provisions, enabling not only a transfer, but effective application of the know-how and technology introduced, thereby improving the employment opportunities and growth potential of the region in question. It calls for better coordination and cooperation across all energy related programmes, drawing out the training implication elements of each, together with the budgetary allocations, in order to allow a more effective response, as opposed to piece-meal approaches. It emphasizes that more effective training provisions will necessarily contribute towards the development of research and new technology.

3.2. The development of human resources and training measures should therefore be an important component in the strategy proposed by the Commission for integrating the objective of Economic and Social Cohesion into energy policy.

Brussels, 5 September 1994.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC

APPENDIX II

Supplementary opinion of the Committee of the Regions

On 26 July 1994 the Committee of the Regions, acting under Rule 9(1) of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up a Supplementary opinion on the communication from the Commission on Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion.

Commission 8 - Economic and Social Cohesion, Social Policy and Public Health, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted the following Supplementary opinion on 7 September 1994. The Rapporteur was Mrs Bolger.

This Supplementary opinion is appended to the Opinion adopted by the Committee of the Regions (CdR 22/95) at its 6th plenary session (meeting of 2 February 1995).

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

- having regard to Article 2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community which includes the task of promoting economic and social cohesion and solidarity between Member States as objectives essential to the Community's development and success and having regard to Article 3 which refers to the strengthening of economic and social cohesion as one of the activities of the Community for the purposes set out in Article 2;

- having regard to article 130a of the Treaty which stipulates that, in order to promote its overall harmonious development, the Community is to develop and pursue its actions leading to the strengthening of its economic and social cohesion, and in particular is to aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least-favoured regions, including rural areas;

- having regard to article 129b of the Treaty which refers to the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures and to Article 129d which refers to the consultation of the Committee of the Regions;

- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee 'Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion' (Doc. COM(93) 645 final);

- having regard to the discussions which arose from the conferences organized in Lisbon in June 1992 on the subject of 'Energy and Economic and Social Cohesion in the Community and in Milan in July 1993 on the subject 'Energy and the Regions'.

INTRODUCTION

In the Communication, the Commission is proposing a strategy for integrating the objective of economic and social cohesion into energy policy and, at the same time, for using energy to help strengthen such cohesion; to this end it puts forward the following aspects:

- the 'Energy Policy and Cohesion' aspect, in which energy policy takes account of cohesion via

- programmes for energy management;

- programmes for the development of energy technology;

- the completion of the internal energy market;

- the development of trans-European energy networks;

- the aspect relating to 'Other Policies, Energy and Cohesion', in which other policies take account of the ways in which energy can contribute to cohesion via

- consistent implementation of energy-related supporting measures;

- the encouragement of regional and local authorities to take account of energy projects in their development programmes;

- including energy-related elements in new Community initiatives. These elements would relate in particular to:

- 'Cross-border energy'

- 'Energy and the Countryside, Islands and the Outermost Regions'

- 'Energy and the Urban Environment'.

Energy is obtainable from either non-renewable (e.g. fossil fuels such as coal or oil, or nuclear fuels) or renewable (e.g. solar, tides, wind, etc.) sources. Generally, the use of non-renewable forms of energy is also more destructive, environmentally, than obtaining energy from renewable sources. Supplies of non-renewables are also, by definition, finite and their price will increase as supplies steadily become scarcer.

GENERAL COMMENTS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

1. stresses that economic development and social progress are closely linked to the availability of energy resources. Energy and development are intimately bound up with one another;

2. points out that the least favoured regions of the Community are in the worst situation as regards energy, which is both one of the causes and one of the consequences of their economic backwardness;

2.1. regrets that the countries in which they are found are the most heavily dependent on imported sources of energy consumption;

2.2. underlines that they have the lowest levels of energy consumption per capita;

2.3. stresses that they are inefficient in their use of energy, chiefly because they are technologically backward and their sources of energy supply are less diversified;

2.4. points out that they have little or no access to the major inter-connected energy networks;

2.5. supports in many cases where the possibility exists, with current technology, to develop the small-scale supply of locally-produced renewalbe energy (e.g. solar, wind, tides, small-scale hydro) in such areas;

3. reminds that the achievement of the main objectives of Community energy policy can often have widely differing impacts on economic and social cohesion;

3.1. shares the view expressed in the Communication that the security of supply means the constitution of strategic stocks with considerable expenditure and costs with a heavier burden on the less developed countries and least developed regions;

3.2. stresses that the extension and improvement of networks and their interconnections helps improve standards of living and stimulates economic activity, but also requires major capital expenditure;

3.2.1. is disappointed that such projects are generally economically viable only in the medium to long term and consequently have little attraction for private operators;

3.2.2. underlines that excessive subsidies for the networks can prove a serious disincentive to the exploitation of regional or local energy resources;

3.2.3. stresses that the extension of energy networks will have to take account of possible synergies with other networks of transport and telecommunications, thus limiting environmental impact;

3.3. shares the view that the promotion of energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy resources help strengthen economic and social cohesion;

3.3.1. recognizes that both these approaches generate economic activity, thereby creating added value and employment and that they both improve the quality of the environment and standards of living;

3.3.2. would point out however that energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy resources require technology and know-how which are not always readily available;

3.3.3. regrets that local resources are less competitive than 'centralized' energy resources. This can be related to the regional and local operators' lack of know-how;

3.3.4. considers that inappropriate institutional and legal frameworks mean that the potential of these regions cannot always be fully exploited;

3.3.5. is convinced that interregional cooperation can be a way to combine different regional, cultural, historical and economical situations in order to achieve common objectives of energy efficiency. (FEDARENNE is a good example of inter-regional cooperation);

3.3.6. is certain that interregional cooperation can contribute to the transfer of 'know-how' from the more-developed regions in the field of energy efficiency, to the less-developed ones;

3.4. hopes that the completion of the internal energy market will make it possible to take greater advantage of the complementarity between energy systems;

3.4.1. points out, however, that prices will not fall equally in all countries and regions of the Community. In some less developed regions and areas the low level of consumption and the remoteness of these regions makes it uneconomical, even with subsidies, to extend the infrastructure to those areas;

3.4.2. is displeased to note that intensive consumers in the less developed regions, given their remote geographical location, will benefit only slightly from the relative decrease in gas and electricity prices;

3.4.3. would point out that the liberalization of the market in oil products will intensify competition and lead distributors to undertake increasingly severe rationalization. There may be a reduction in the number of sales outlets in areas which have a low population density, and are not within easy reach of the major road networks;

3.4.4. underlines that in the least developed regions of the Community, and especially in certain rural areas and in the outermost and island regions, the internal energy market will initially not necessarily mean easier access to energy;

3.4.5. is displeased to note the monopolistic or oligopolistic structure of the energy market and that this market is reserved for state enterprises in most of the Member States, which consequently makes the completion of the internal energy market more difficult;

3.4.6. notes that current practices, including competition between different utilities, can lead to an encouragement of energy consumption rather than its conservation;

4. gives its express approval to the proposal to introduce the proposed supporting measures to help strengthen cohesion not only via energy policy but also through their impact on other Community policies: environmental policy, common agricultural policy, transport policy, research policy, policies of town and country planning and regional development, policies for employment and industrial change;

5. calls for the Commission to assist local and regional authorities in the field of training and education in energy awareness and energy management.

SPECIFIC COMMENTS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

6. THERMIE

stresses that the programme should be implemented differently in the less-developed regions. The OPETS located in or near the regions could carry out detailed research in order to identify the innovative technologies which are best suited to the energy requirements of these regions and to discover and support the economic operators who would be interested in using such technology and those capable of installing it;

7. JOULE

welcomes the projects in the less well-developed regions, mainly in the area of renewable energies;

8. SAVE

emphasizes the special treatment that should be given to regions who have a lower capacity for implementing certain recommended measures such as building certification, development of bodies which practice third-party financing, energy auditing;

9. ALTERNER

shares the view that emphasis must be placed on the institutional and financial aspects as they affect the less-favoured regions. It is important to remove legal obstacles to provide investors in renewable energy with financial conditions at least as favourable as those available to the major energy producers and to take proper account of externalities;

10. points out that a deep understanding of the contribution that regional energy programmes make to regional economic development will only be achieved if such programmes are properly evaluated, including the use of objective measures and the development of a suitable methodology;

11. Regional and Urban Energy planning scheme

stresses the need of having a precise identification of projects which might be carried out under the abovementioned programmes. Special attention should be given to the efficient use of energy in heating and ventilation, to the quality of the air and to the prevention of health problems;

believes that regional and local authorities must lead the way in energy efficiency by correct management of buildings under their control;

12. Energy and the Countryside, Islands and the Outermost Regions

agrees with the Commission that priority should be given to energy-saving schemes, leaving room for network extensions where these make sense;

13. Energy and the Urban Environment

urges that the emphasis should be on the management of gas, electricity and heating networks, on urban energy management and on schemes to improve energy efficiency in urban areas;

14. Energy and Cross-border Areas

welcomes these schemes set up between frontier regions, bringing together heterogeneous institutions, harmonizing regulations and getting people with different experience and know-how to work together.

15. As a conclusion, the Committee of the Regions

is convinced that when the overall strategy for integrating the objective of economic and social cohesion into energy policy has concluded and decisions on policies and programmes are formulated, the Committee of the Regions must ensure that quality of life is protected and that the health and welfare of all European citizens are improved.

Brussels, 7 September 1994.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC