Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Commission White Paper: Energy for the future: renewable sources of energy - White Paper for a Community Strategy and Action Plan'
Date: 1998-07-16
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, action programme, energy policy, renewable energy

13.10.98

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 315/5

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Commission White Paper: Energy for the
future: renewable sources of energy — White Paper for a Community Strategy and Action
Plan’

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

(98/C 315/02)

having regard to the Commission communication entitled: ‘Energy for the Future: renewable
sources of energy — White Paper for a Community Strategy and Action Plan’(1);

having regard to the Commission decision of 19 December 1997 asking the Economic and
Social Committee to draw up an opinion on this subject;

having regard to the COR Bureau decision of 12 March 1998, taken in accordance with the
third paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to draw
up an opinion and to ask Commission 4 on Spatial planning, urban issues, energy and the
environment, to prepare the work;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 57/98 rev.) adopted by Commission 4 on 22 April
1998. The rapporteur was Mr Jo Leinen,

adopted the following opinion at its 24th plenary session of 15 and 16 July 1998 (meeting of
16 July) by a majority.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the
White Paper and approves the instruments proposed
therein. It particularly supports the European Com-
mission’s intention of promoting renewable energies
more intensively in the future, above all by improving
the legal framework,
introducing commercialization
programmes, and providing economic incentives to
mobilize private capital.

1.2.
The Committee of the Regions regards the
Commission’s intention of doubling the share of renew-
ables in the European Union’s energy balance to at least
12 % by the year 2010 as an ambitious but realistic
objective. The COR believes that this share could be
raised to 15 % if greater efforts were made in the
meantime to simultaneously improve energy efficiency
and the rational use of energy.

1.3.
The Committee of the Regions believes that local
and regional players have a particularly important
role to play in furthering the market penetration of
renewables since such energy resources are found locally
and are used locally. Local and regional incentives,
supported by European aid programmes, can make a
key contribution to improving the share of renewables
in the energy balance.

1.4.
The Committee supports the ideas set out in the
Commission’s White Paper explaining why it is thought
necessary to actively and intensively promote renew-
ables:

— to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse

gas emissions ( particularly CO2);

(1) COM(97) 599 final.

— to reduce growing EU dependency on energy imports
by developing domestic renewables and thereby
saving on foreign exchange and fuel costs;

— to promote regional development and job-creation,
particularly in structurally weak regions, remote
areas, islands and in agriculture;

— to open up export opportunities for European
in
industry on world markets, particularly
developing and emerging countries with their rapidly
rising energy needs;

— to gain clear acceptance by the general public in
Europe of the need to make increasing use of
renewables in preference to all other energy supply
options.

1.5.
The Committee of the Regions shares the Com-
mission’s view that renewable energies cannot be viewed
in isolation from other policy areas. In implementing
the White Paper’s proposals, particular attention should
therefore be paid to integrating renewable energies more
closely into other policies (i.e. policies on external
trade, employment, industry, competition, agriculture,
development, the internal market, research and develop-
ment, taxation, transport, the environment, structural
policy, regional policy and tourism).

The Committee of the Regions would also
1.6.
underline the importance of renewables in relation to
security of supply. Conflicts over the distribution of
dwindling reserves of fossil fuels, particularly oil and
natural gas, are already threatening the stability of
whole regions across the globe. Armed conflicts and the
military protection of conventional energy sources give

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rise to macroeconomic costs which are not reflected in
energy prices. Renewables are therefore an essential
instrument for guaranteeing peace in the 21st century.

1.7.
The Committee of the Regions shares the view
taken in the White Paper that the use of renewables has
a remarkable effect on employment, with up to five
times as many jobs being created — given the same
installed capacity — as in the case of traditional energy
technologies. The Danish wind power industry for
example already employs more people than the country’s
traditional fishing industry.

1.8.
The Committee of the Regions shares the view
expressed in the White Paper that the use of renewable
energies creates jobs in regions where there is no
industrial development. Many less developed areas of
the Community may lack traditional energy sources but
they have considerable potential in terms of renewables
and this potential must be utilized to the full. The COR
would point out that renewables will have a much
greater role to play in future not only in rural but also
in urban areas. For example, in the construction industry,
there are wonderful opportunities for using active and
passive solar designs.

2. Action Plan for renewable energies

2.1.

Internal market measures

The Committee of the Regions supports the
2.1.1.
Commission’s intention to create fair market oppor-
tunities for renewables without this leading to dispro-
portionately high financial burdens. The many different
benefits to be derived from implementing the Action
Plan justify greater efforts at all levels, starting with
local and regional authorities but also involving Member
States and the European Union.

Like the Commission, the Committee of the
2.1.2.
Regions believes that the commercialization of renew-
ables must not be hindered by the creation of a single
electricity market in the EC. Liberalization of the market
may — if not backed up by relevant measures —
lead to a situation where renewables are placed at a
disadvantage. Such measures should in all instances be
based on ‘positive discrimination’ both in terms of access
to networks and payment for the renewables exported
to these networks. In the view of the COR the optional
provisions on the promotion of domestic renewables, to
be found in the Directive on the single market, should
be transformed into mandatory provisions. This is
particularly true of Articles 8(3) and 11(3) of the Directive
(containing provisions on preferential treatment for
renewables).

preference to electricity from renewables sources and
that the price paid for such electricity should be based
on minimum European-wide rates. Rules on higher
financial payments could be based on Article 3(2) of the
Directive on the internal electricity market.

Inadequate payments for the supply of elec-
2.1.4.
tricity to the network frequently constitute an insur-
mountable obstacle in terms of market access for
renewables. In most cases the actual value of electricity
from renewable energy sources is not reflected in
the prices paid to renewable electricity generators by
network suppliers. The COR accordingly supports the
Commission’s idea of setting minimum legal European
rates. The advantages of renewables — including their
social and ecological benefits — would then be clearly
recognized and reflected in the level of payments. Last
but not least, the high level of acceptance of renewables
should be turned to good use by applying the principle
of cost-covering payments at local and regional levels.
This so-called ‘Aachen model’ is already operating in
several local areas of Germany and Austria.

2.1.5.
The Committee of the Regions would also
point out that the general tax system currently in
operation hinders the optimum distribution of resources,
particularly in the energy field. The internalization of
some external costs — as already called for in the Green
Paper — is an important factor in increasing the market
share of renewables. The Committee of the Regions
therefore calls upon the Council to reach agreement
without delay on a European energy tax/environmental
protection levy. Social and ecological costs must in
future be an integral element of energy prices.

2.1.6.
In addition to more favourable regulations
governing payment for electricity from renewables, tax
incentives are needed to facilitate the financing of,
investment into and use of renewables. The Committee
of the Regions therefore calls for the development of
special credit institutions, e.g. the so-called solar credit
line, which would reflect the advantages and specific
characteristics of renewable energy sources.

2.1.7.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the
Commission statement that the system of ‘green tariffs’
operated by a number of energy suppliers in some
Member States has not always been adequate or appro-
priate. Indeed, regulations governing legally-guaranteed
prices for electricity from renewables have proved to be
a far more effective instrument for achieving market
penetration and the installation of plant for the utiliza-
tion of renewable energies.

2.2. Reinforcing Community policies

2.1.3.
The White Paper rightly points out the impor-
tance of fair access of renewables to the electricity
market. The Committee of the Regions shares the
Commission’s view that network operators should give

2.2.1.
In accordance with the polluter-pays principle
enshrined in Article 130r(2) of the EU Treaty, all
additional costs arising out of higher electricity network
supply prices for renewables should be fully incorporated
in the tariffs paid by all electricity consumers. The COR

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likewise recommends that national or Community
mechanisms, e.g. an equalization fund for energy sup-
pliers, be used to rectify possible regional imbalances.

2.2.2.
Implementation of the measures proposed in
the White Paper can make a vital contribution to growth,
competitiveness and employment. The example of wind
energy utilization in Denmark and Germany, alongside
the increasing use of biomass in Austria and Scandinavia,
show how quickly renewable energies can expand when
they are able to rely on private initiatives and on an
appropriate framework provided by the state. Similar
examples can be found in the use of solar energy in
various regions of the European Union, e.g. in Greece.

2.2.3.
The Committee of the Regions believes that,
from the point of view of competition law, top priority
should be given to the rapid commercialization and
market penetration of renewable energies — at least for
the commercialization phase of the next few years.
Long-term rules on payment for the purchase of elec-
tricity from renewables should not in future be assessed
according to the usual aid criteria. The crucial criterion
should be whether there has been a high level of market
penetration achieved as speedily as possible — in other
words the establishment of a maximum number of
installations. Another criterion which must be taken
into consideration is the closeness of renewable energy
plant to the threshold of competitiveness.

2.2.4.
Research policy must aim to remove existing
imbalances in the promotion of different energy tech-
nologies. Research expenditure on renewable energies
must in future be increased substantially and geared
more to applied research — which basically means the
optimization of production processes. Fundamental
research by contrast should be focused on supporting
those technologies which are still
in their infancy
and are not as yet marketable (e.g. certain biomass
technologies,
tidal and wave energy, solar power
stations).

2.2.5.
The place of renewables in the regional policy
of the European Union needs to be improved. The COR
accordingly proposes that, in view of what has been said
earlier about the importance of structural policy, specific
aid should be allocated within the framework of Com-
munity regional programmes and structural and
cohesion fund guidelines to the construction of pro-
duction sites where renewable energy plant is developed.
Such funds could also be used to set up energy agencies
and a network of local and regional institutions for the
purpose of offering support to investors and operators
in the funding and development of renewable energy
projects.

than any other energy source. Some regions and enter-
prises are already using renewable energies in their
advertising campaigns. Renewables can also help cope
with peak demand during the high season. By adopting
such an approach, the creation of additional power
station capacity becomes unnecessary. This is particu-
larly true in the case of solar energy in southern Member
States.

2.2.7.
Local and regional authorities have a key role
to play in drawing up legislation in the construction
industry and in protecting nature and the environment.
The Committee calls upon the appropriate administra-
tive authorities to create an environment which is
conducive to preferential treatment for renewable ener-
gies. Preferential treatment must also be enshrined in
European environmental legislation so that conflicts
between nature protection lobbies and users of renew-
able energies are avoided. The global, ecological use of
renewable energies must, where possible, be properly
balanced with local concerns. Furthermore, local au-
thorities are carrying out model projects for the use of
renewable energy especially in the transport sector
(‘clean’ buses). Such good practice must be encouraged
and publicized.

2.2.8.
The Committee of the Regions underlines the
importance of renewable energies for future Community
agricultural and forestry policies which would be appli-
cable everywhere in Europe and which would be
committed to the principle of sustainability. The COR
is accordingly aware of the enormous employment and
structural potential of such a policy. Agenda 2000 must
open up new prospects for European agriculture by
allowing it to also play a leading role in the supply of
environmentally-friendly energy. Calculations by the
European biomass association (AEBIOM) show that up
to a million new jobs might be created in agriculture
and forestry by the year 2010. In realizing this enormous
potential (the Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Development of the European Parliament estimates that
biomass is likely to account for 10 % of the European
Union’s energy needs by the year 2010) new income
opportunities will be opened up in the agricultural
sector. Plans and measures for sustainable rural develop-
ment must be developed and answered for by regions
and municipalities to a greater extent than hitherto.

The Committee of the Regions calls upon the
2.2.9.
Commission to argue the case in the WTO for a more
generous treatment of agricultural and forestry raw
materials insofar as they are used for energy production
purposes. Fiscal measures designed to support the
production and use of renewable energies in agriculture
and forestry are a further requirement if renewables are
to achieve greater market penetration. Tax exemptions
and allowances, credit facilities and soft loans, may also
help to turn this potential into reality.

Tourism also

2.2.6.
for
expanding the use of renewable energies since the latter
are generally viewed with more favour by the consumer

opportunities

offers

2.2.10.
Foreign policy considerations are also of
special importance for renewable energies. This is not
only for energy- and environmental-policy reasons, but
the future
also and above all

the sake of

for

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competitiveness of Europe. The Committee of the
Regions is firmly convinced that the Synergy programme,
the new Mediterranean programme MEDA, and the
Community Phare and Tacis programmes for central
and eastern Europe and the countries of the former
Soviet Union, should be geared increasingly to the
promotion of renewable energies. The COR also pro-
poses the creation of a European Agency for Renewable
Energies with the aim of facilitating a more rapid
transfer of renewable energy technologies, particularly
to developing countries and emerging economies.

European enterprises wishing to export
2.2.11.
renewable energy plant to third countries, or which are
investing to help build up production capacity in
developing countries and emerging economies, deserve
to be given adequate support in the form of information,
advice, export backing and export guarantees. The
European Export Council for Renewable Energies set
up in 1996 also needs to be given adequate personnel,
financial and political support, as do national orga-
nizations with similar objectives.

2.3.

Improvement of cooperation between the Member
States

2.3.1.
The White Paper points up the differences
between Member States in terms of availability of
information, range of experience and level of awareness
of the players involved, stating that they constitute a
further barrier to market penetration. Differing regu-
lations and diverging, rapidly changing national and
regional aid programmes also contribute to unstable
and unpredictable markets for renewables. The Com-
mittee of the Regions agrees with this assessment
and supports the Commission’s call for a Community
framework that is stable, ensures continuity, and encour-
ages cooperation between the Member States with the
aim of promoting renewables.

2.3.2.
A Task Force needs to be set up immediately
within the Commission to improve the coordination of
current and future activities carried out by individual
Directorates-General in the field of renewables.

2.3.3.
The Committee of the Regions emphasizes the
point made in the White Paper that cooperation between
the Member States in the field of renewable energies
must be intensified since most implementing measures
are taken at national, regional and local level. The COR
accordingly proposes the creation of a European Agency
for Renewable Energies which would operate along the
lines of the European Environment Agency and have as
its task the observation and analysis of developments in
the field of renewable energies. This would constitute a
way of improving cooperation between all the players
concerned.

2.3.4.
The Committee of the Regions would reiterate
the proposal made in its opinion on the Commission’s
Green Paper (1) to the effect that the promotion of

renewable energies should be enshrined in the EU Treaty
along the lines of the Community aid instruments
available under the ECSC and Euratom Treaties and
which have existed for decades. This is the only way
to ensure an adequate legal basis for an ambitious
Community renewables strategy in the 21st century,
establishing, as a matter of urgency, environmental
legislation which is compatible with the use of renew-
ables.

2.4. Accompanying measures

2.4.1.
The Committee of the Regions supports the
Commission proposal that all Community financial
instruments should in future contain specific incentives
for investment in renewable energies. This is particularly
true of credit and investment support from the European
Investment Bank (EIB) and from the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Redevelopment (EBRD). The
provision of support for renewable energies should also
be improved in the structural and cohesion funds, as
well as in the Mediterranean programme (MEDA) and
development programmes for third countries.

The Committee of the Regions suggests that
2.4.2.
more funds be allocated to Altener II. The activities
carried out under this programme are extremely
important from the point of view of the marketing and
commercial exploitation of renewable energies.

3. Campaign for take-off

3.1.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the
Commission statement that the cost of renewable energy
technologies falls rapidly once commercial exploitation
has got underway. As experiences have shown with
wind energy — but also with photovoltaic systems and
solar energy — the substantial cost reductions of the
last few years can basically be attributed to steadily
rising demand and to the further technological progress
indirectly triggered thereby. The Committee of the
Regions accordingly supports the Commission’s pro-
posed ‘campaign for take-off’, with its uniform Euro-
pean-wide market penetration strategy for renewable
energies. The measures spelt out in the campaign
(1 000 000 photovoltaic systems, 10 000 MW of large
wind farms, 10 000 MWth of biomass installations, and
the integration of renewable energies in 100 communi-
ties) are wholeheartedly supported by the COR. How-
ever, the Commission proposal fails to adequately
expound the strategy for producing energy crops. This
strategy merits further detail. In the ‘campaign for
take-off’ the importance of renewable energy sources
for the heat energy market should be stressed and their
use imposed in this sector too. Decentralized biomass
plant with low output (up to 50 Kw) should play a
major part here.

(1) OJ C 244, 11.8.1997, p. 1.

The Committee of the Regions takes the view
3.2.
that, in addition to an appropriate legal framework for

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renewables (e.g. advantageous conditions governing
access to networks and electricity supply grids), it is
essential to set up long-term, broad-based market
penetration programmes and to provide stronger support
for applied research. At the same time there is a need
for appropriate technical legislation widening access to
the energy market and encouraging research into energy
storage.

3.3.
The Committee of the Regions welcomes the
proposal to set up a network to promote renewable

energies. All key players in the field should be represented
on this advisory forum — European, national, regional
and local authorities, manufacturers and operators of
renewable energy plant; umbrella organizations for
individual, renewable energy sources; representatives of
consumer organizations and energy supply enterprises.
This advisory forum could offer support to the Com-
mission in devising and implementing an Action Plan
for renewables. In this connection the COR proposes
the setting up of a programme to support associations
active in the field of renewable energies.

Brussels, 16 July 1998.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Report from the Commission on Access to
continuing training in the Union’

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

(98/C 315/03)

having regard to the Commission Report on Access to continuing training in the Union (1);

having regard to its decision on 11 June 1997, in conformity with Article 198C fourth indent,
to draw up an opinion on this subject and to attribute its preparation to Commission 6
— Education and Training;

having regard to its Opinion on The role of local and regional authorities in linking education
and training establishments to enterprises (CdR 346/96 fin) (2); its Opinion on The White
Paper on Education and training: towards the learning society (CdR 115/96 fin) (3) and its
Opinion on The European year of lifelong learning (CdR 244/94) (4);

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 424/97 rev. 2) adopted by Commission 6 on 16 January
1998 (rapporteur: Mrs Helene Lund);

whereas the COR in its opinion on The White Paper on Education and Training: towards the
learning society, called for increased focus to be given to continuing training needs and ways
to trigger participation in training programmes;

whereas the European Council, in its Resolution on growth and employment adopted at its
meeting in Amsterdam on 16 June 1997, underlined that the development of a skilled, trained
and adaptable workforce should be a priority aim and called for full attention to be given to
training and education systems including lifelong learning in order to increase employability,

unanimously adopted the following Opinion at its 24th plenary session of 15 and 16 July 1998
(meeting of 15 July).

(1) COM(97) 180 final.
(2) OJ C 116, 14.4.1997, p. 98.
(3) OJ C 182, 24.6.1996, p. 15.
(4) OJ C 210, 14.8.1995, p. 74.