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COM(80)301
Vol.1980/0108

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)301final
Brussels,29thHay1980
ENERGY
(Communication fromtheCommissiontotheEuropeanCouncil)
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C0M(80)301final

COMMUNITY PROGRESS INTHE ENERGY FIELD
Report tothe European Council InVenice
1#Atitsmeeting inLuxembourg on27and 28April ,theEuropean
Council considered ideas putforward bytheCommission fora
newCommunity initiative aspart ofaCommunity strategy for
energy (CQM(80)130 of20March ). TheCommission drew particular
attention totheneed toundertake progressive harmonization of
energy prices andtaxes ;topromote aninvestment programme to
support theefforts ofMember States toencourage energy saving ,
thesubstitution ofoil byenergy from other sources ,the
reduction ofdependence onforeign suppliers ,and thedevelopment
ofother renewable sources ;and toexamine various possibilities
forfinancing such aprogramme .Initsconclusions the
European Council invited theCouncil ofMinisters toconsider as
amatter ofurgency thesteps proposed bytheCommission to
stimulate thedevelopment ofacoherent energy policy within
theCommunity .
2.Against thebackground ofcontinuing uncertainties ontheworld
oilmarket ,theCouncil ofEnergy Ministers was also invited to
consider what further action wasnowrequired tomeet the
possibility ofshort-term oil supply difficulties . -
3.Atitsmeeting on13May ,theCouncil ofEnergy Ministers considered
some ofthese questions .Progress wasmade .Themain con-
elusions were asfollows .
4.First ,after apreliminary discussion oftheCommission 'snew
proposals ,theCouncil agreed that further work wasneeded asa
.matter ofurgency onenergy investment intheCommunity .The
Council will revert tothis issue atitsnext meeting . Itwill
then have before ittheresult ofanexamination bythe .Commission
ofenergy programmes ineach oftheMember States .This
examination ,which aims toidentify theareas where extra
investment isrequired and toexplore thescope forCommunity
support ,isalready under way through bilateral consultations
between individual Member States and the Commission .

-2-
5.Secondly theCouncil approved aResolution onCommunity Energy
Objectives for1990 andConvergence ofthePolicies ofthe
Member States .This called foranannual report bytheCommission
onenergy programmes upto1990 ineach oftheMember States
todetermine howfarthey areinline with theCommunity 's
energy policy objectives .Inpreparing itsreport ,theCommission
will take into account thefollowing guidelines for1990 forthe
Community asawhole :
-reducing to0.7orless theratio between therate ofgrowth
inenergy consumption andtherate ofeconomic growth
(thepresent objective for1985 is0.8);
-reducing oilconsumption intheCommunity toabout 40"Uof
total energy consumption
•(thepresent level isabout 55 *%.);
-raising the share ofcoal andnuclear inelectricity generation
to70-75 7o
(this compares with about 50"Lat
present andwill mean considerably speeding upcoal firing
conversion andnew capacity and theordering andcommissioning
ofnuclear plants );
-encouraging anincrease inrenewable energy sources ;
-thepursuit ofenergy pricing policies geared toattaining
Community energy objectives (seeparagraph 6below ).
TheCommission will aim toproduce its first report tothe
Council byearly 1981 .
6.Thirdly theCouncil approved aResolution onNewLines ofAction
bytheCommunity intheField ofEnergy Saving .This called for
thefurther development ofenergy savings programmes inMember
States covering all themain sectors ofenergy use .Itwas
agreed that ,ifcomparable effects aretobeachieved throughout
theCommunity jthese programmes should bebased onanumber of
guidelines proposed bytheCommission including ,notably ,three
keyprinciples ofenergy pricing :

(1)consumer prices should reflect representative condi­
tions ontheworld market ,taking account oflonger -
term trends ;
(11)oneofthefactors determining consumer prices should
bethecost ofreplacing anddeveloping energy
resources ;
(111)energy prices onthemarket should becharacterised
bythegreatest possible degree oftransparency .
TheCommission hasbeen Invited tomonitor andreport onprogress .
7.Finally theCouncil called foranurgent examination ofa
number ofareas where action could help tostabilise oilmarkets
andcould Improve theCommunity 'semergency planning arrangements .
This examination will beconducted bytheCommission Inconsul­
tation with Member States .TheCommission hasbeen asked toreport
results totheCouncil bySeptember .
8.TheCommission welcomes theprogress sofarmade bytheCouncil
ofEnergy Ministers *Theagreements reached should behelpful
totherepresentatives oftheCommunity InVenice on22and
23June .Theexperience oftheTokyo Summit of1979 shows
thevalue ofprior Community decisions Indiscussion atthe
Summit among ourmajor industrial partners *