Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Communication from the Commission - An overall view of energy policy and actions'
Date: 1997-10-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: competitiveness, energy industry, energy policy, environmental protection, security of supply

21. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 19/37

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
— An overall view of energy policy and actions’

(98/C 19/10)

On 30 April 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
communication.

The Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 19 September 1997. The
rapporteur was Mr Lerios.

At its 349th plenary session (meeting of 29 October), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 113 votes, with three abstentions.

1.

Introduction

The Committee has given its views many times
1.1.
on the various Community programmes and activities
in the energy sector.

— Investment projects of interest to the Community in
the petroleum, natural gas and electricity sectors (1);

— European energy charter (2);

— Supply of crude oil and petroleum products (3);

— Internal market in electricity and natural gas (4);

— Internal market in electricity and natural gas (5);

— Trans-European energy networks (6);

— Community energy policy (7);

— Energy and economic and social cohesion (8);

— Thermie II (9);

— Green paper
policy’ (10);

‘For a European Union energy

— Energy charter treaty (11);

— SAVE II (12);

— Gas supply (13);

— Public service obligations in the internal energy

market (14);

— Illustrative nuclear programme (15);

(1) OJ C 75, 26. 3. 1990, p. 26.
(2) OJ C 269, 14. 10. 1991, p. 79.
(3) OJ C 332, 16. 12. 1992, p. 74.
(4) OJ C 73, 15. 3. 1993, p. 31.
(5) OJ C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 82.
(6) OJ C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 33.
(7) OJ C 393, 31. 12. 1994, p. 95.
(8) OJ C 393, 31. 12. 1994, p. 164.
(9) OJ C 393, 31. 12. 1994, p. 77.
(10) OJ C 256, 2. 10. 1995, p. 34.
(11) OJ C 18, 22. 1. 1996, p. 146.
(12) OJ C 82, 19. 3. 1996, p. 13.
(13) OJ C 204, 15. 7. 1996, p. 84.
(14) OJ C 56, 24. 2. 1997, p. 83.
(15) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 83.

— Cooperation around agreed Community energy

objectives (16);

— Green Paper on energy for the future: renewable

sources of energy (17).

1.1.1. Most recently the Commission’s proposal con-
cerning the organization of cooperation around agreed
Community energy objectives(18) sets out objectives and
policy guidelines covering, in particular, security of
supply, competitiveness, environmental protection,
external energy relations and the promotion of energy
efficiency and renewables; these guidelines have been
periodically endorsed by the Member States and also by
the ESC.

1.1.2.
In order to facilitate the achievement of these
common energy objectives, the Commission states that
it is essential to strengthen cooperation and coordination
between the Member States within an organized frame-
work so as to ensure that national and Community
energy policies are compatible with these objectives, as
mentioned in the ESC’s previous opinions.

1.2.
The present communication is a first response to
the call by the Council and European Parliament
to establish a framework for existing Community
programmes and activities in the energy sector and to
make progress on rationalizing and coordinating them.

1.3.
The Commission’s request for the Committee to
issue an opinion on this communication is in line with
the new philosophy of involving the ESC from the outset
in new Commission initiatives.

(16) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 123.
(17) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 41.
(18) OJ C 27, 28. 1. 1997, p. 9.

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21. 1. 98

2. Gist of the Commission document

2.1.
The communication aims at giving complete
information on EU actions in the field of energy and the
corresponding financial means. It deals, on the one
hand, with energy cooperation which includes cooper-
ation with the Member States and with interested parties
and, on the other hand, with Community actions
concentrated on four objectives:

— security of supply and international energy cooper-

ation,

— integrating energy markets to enhance competi-

tiveness,

— promoting sustainable development in the field of

energy, and

— promoting energy research and technological devel-

opment.

3. General comments

The Committee welcomes the Communication
3.1.
from the Commission, which further develops the
direction taken by the green and white papers on EU
energy policy, and by its Communication on cooperation
around agreed Community energy objectives.

3.2.
Except in the case of the white paper, the
Committee was able to express satisfaction with the
content of all the above documents. In its opinion on
the green paper on an EU energy policy, the Committee
asked the Commission to clarify which instruments
directly or indirectly influence Community energy pol-
icy, and the powers and responsibilities concerned.

3.3.
The Committee welcomes the new Communi-
cation as going some way towards satisfying this request.
it still has some reservations, which are
However,
outlined below.

3.5.
As long as the Treaty lacks an energy chapter,
therefore, it will be necessary to balance and coordinate
the use of the various Treaty articles which have a
bearing on the development of energy policy. Unless
these articles are interpreted in their widest sense, there
is a risk that the structure of the common energy
policy will simply be based on that of numerous other
Community policies. This could mean an energy policy
which places insufficient emphasis on security of supply,
which does not strengthen competitiveness, which is
incompatible with environmental protection, or which
does not respond to the needs of the Union’s citizens in
terms of safety and quality of service.

The Committee considers that the desire for
3.6.
transparency demonstrated by the Commission in this
Communication is an important first step towards a
new proposal which could lead to a new approach to
the management of all energy policy actions contained
in EU programmes.

3.7. Many of the proposed initiatives have been
included in previous Communications, and contain
neither new elements nor additional substance. How-
ever, the Commission’s attempt to provide an overall
view of these, as per the title of the Communication,
should be recognized.

3.8.
For this reason, the Committee is of the opinion
that this Communication can only be a starting point,
and that it should be completed by a further Communi-
cation in which each of the areas mentioned (security of
supply and international energy cooperation, integrating
energy markets, promoting sustainable development in
the energy field and promoting energy research and
technological development) is examined in more detail
and in more specific terms. The document should
specify the added value of direct Community action or
coordination of national activities, the legal base to be
used, follow-up and monitoring mechanisms, financial
implications, respective priority, and the timetable for
the individual initiatives.

3.4.
Various Member States had proposed including
an energy chapter in the Amsterdam Treaty. Because
this could not be achieved, the Committee believes that
a coherent and coordinated common energy policy
should be drawn up at European Union level, using the
existing acquis communautaire. This idea has been
systematically approved by the Committee since the
adoption of its own-initiative opinion on a Community
energy policy, which proposed that the common policy
be built upon cooperation between national energy
policies and the freedom to choose primary energy
sources.

3.9.
It should also be pointed out that the European
Union is at a watershed in its development. The
introduction of the single currency, the deepening of the
single market, the effort to maintain economic and
social cohesion among its citizens, advances in the social
field, the possible accession of new Member States, and
the growing demands of the citizens of the Union in
many areas — all these are challenges in which the
energy sector must always have a role. It must be
emphasized that anyone of these new values or commit-
ments that the European Union hopes to achieve could
be jeopardized by even a short-lived energy shortage,

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excessive increases in the cost of imported energy, or a
decline in the quality and efficiency of the supply of oil,
electricity or natural gas to which European consumers
have been accustomed for decades. It is vital, therefore,
that the energy sector — and hence energy policy — are
able to rise to these challenges and meet the demands of
European citizens.

3.10.
This Communication could thus serve as the
basis for a real programme for the energy sector. The
Economic and Social Committee could be consulted
again and have another chance to make a positive

contribution to the document. Finally, this programme
for energy policy could be included in the discussions
on Agenda 2000, which will include debates on the
challenges and opportunities opened up by EU enlarge-
ment, the overall financial outlook and the new operating
framework for the institutions. This would also mean
that the European Commission’s Directorate-General
for energy would have a substantial work programme
covering several years, which would consolidate the role
of the energy sector in a European Union which is
geographically larger, economically more competitive
and socially more cohesive.

Brussels, 29 October 1997.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Recommen-
dation on European cooperation in quality assurance in higher education’

(98/C 19/11)

On 5 June 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 October 1997. The
rapporteur was Mr Rodrı´guez Garcı´a Caro.

At its 349th plenary session (meeting of 29 October 1997), the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 112 votes, with one abstention.

1.

Introduction

Article 126(1) of the Treaty establishing the
1.1.
European Community states that the Community shall
contribute to the development of quality education by
encouraging cooperation between Member States and
by supporting and supplementing action designed to
attain the objectives of the Treaty, while fully respecting
the responsibilities of the Member States.

1.2.
Given the interest shown by the Member States
in improving the quality of higher education in their
universities, the Council meeting of Education Ministers
held in November 1991 urged Community action in the
field of quality assessment. In 1994 the Commission and
the Member States implemented two pilot projects with
the aim of assessing the quality of teaching and learning
in a few specific subject areas in selected institutions.

1.3.
At the time this action was launched, quality
assessment systems had been developed to different
degrees in the Member States. Consequently, the funda-
mental aim of the projects was to raise awareness of
the need for quality assessment in higher education
establishments, with a view to improving the actual
teaching received by students.

The results obtained in the pilot projects and the
1.4.
conclusions drawn from this interesting experiment
were set out in an information note presented by Mrs
Cresson to the Council meeting of Education Ministers
on 6 May 1996. The Council took note of the Com-
mission’s intention to produce a recommendation fol-
lowing the guidelines of the note.