Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Commission's Green Paper Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply"
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU publication, energy supply, environmental protection, security of supply

3.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 107/13

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Commission’s Green Paper “Towards a
European strategy for the security of energy supply”’

(2002/C 107/05)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Commission’s Green Paper ‘Towards a European strategy for the security of energy
supply’;

having regard to the decision by its Bureau on 13 June 2000 to draw up, under paragraph 5 of Article 265
of the Treaty establishing the European Community, an Opinion on the ‘Green Paper: Towards a
European strategy for the security of energy supply’ and to instruct Commission 4 — Spatial Planning,
Urban Issues, Energy and Environment — to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to the Committee’s Opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the
Council and the European Parliament on ‘Preparing for Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol’,
(CdR 295/99 fin) (1);

having regard to the Committee’s Opinion on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources in the internal
electricity market (CdR 191/2000 fin) (2);

having regard to the Committee’s Opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the Council,
the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on an
Action Plan to Improve Energy Efficiency in the European Community (CdR 270/2000 fin) (3);

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
completing the internal energy market and a Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of
the Council amending Directives 96/92/EC and 98/30/EC concerning common rules for the internal
market in electricity and natural gas (COM(2001) 125 final);

whereas it is important for the European Union to ensure energy-supply security on a long-term basis,
whilst respecting environmental concerns and meeting the commitments on reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions it entered into at Kyoto;

whereas as many players as possible, including local and regional authorities should be involved, in a
European strategy for the security of energy supply, with particular emphasis on demand management
and development of renewable and decentralised energy sources;

whereas the Draft Opinion (CdR 38/2001 rev. 2) was adopted by Commission 4 on 8 October 2001
(rapporteur, Mr Roelants Du Vivier [Senator, Vice-President of the Brussels Parliament, B/ELDR)],

adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 41st plenary session on 14 and 15 November 2001
(meeting of 15 November).

The Committee of the Regions’ viewpoint

The Committee of the Regions

1.
welcomes the Commission’s Green Paper ‘Towards a
European strategy for the security of energy supply’. The
question of security of energy supply merits particular atten-
tion, especially at a juncture when the liberalisation of energy
markets risks engendering a short-term approach to energy
issues;

(1) OJ C 57, 29.2.2000, p. 81.
(2) OJ C 22, 24.1.2001, p. 27.
(3) OJ C 144, 16.5.2001, p. 17.

is pleased to see that the three pillars of the European
2.
Union’s energy policy — economic competitiveness,
the
environment and security of supply — are considered together
and given relatively equal weight; the opening of energy
networks to competition focused more on the issue of
competitiveness;

3.
notes with pleasure that the Green Paper incorporates
some of the Committee’s foremost concerns, as set out in the
opinions listed above in the preamble, which have consistently
called for these proposals to be ‘presented together in the same
policy document, thereby increasing the coherence of the
Union energy policy’ (3);

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4.
welcomes the fact that the document covers the Europe
of the 30, including the applicant countries, most of which
have energy efficiency problems which must be overcome;

5.
welcomes the Green Paper’s two key priorities, namely
controlling energy demand and developing renewable sources
of energy, issues on which the Committee of the Regions has
reiterated its interest on many occasions. The Committee
particularly welcomes the Green Paper’s statements that ‘The
Union must rebalance its supply policy by clear action in
favour of a demand policy’ and that ‘Only a policy geared to
controlling demand can lay the foundations for a sound energy
supply security policy’; (question 1)

6.
is nonetheless concerned about the scope of the means
proposed for averting problems ‘if no measures are taken’ in
view of:

— the absence of quantified energy savings targets, despite
their considerable potential (although, as is frequently the
case in supply policies, quantified targets were set for
renewables in the White Paper and draft Directive);

— the absence of forward-looking energy scenarios at EU
level describing the impact a proactive policy for energy
consumption control would have on consumption pat-
terns;

— the weakness of the proposals from the perspective of
‘horizontal policies’, which appear to be limited to
technological and fiscal measures; with the exception of
pilot operations, which are also useful and must be
promoted but have a limited impact, the only measure
referred to in the context of influencing energy demand
is taxation; (question 9)

7.
welcomes the priority given to development of renewable
sources of energy, which are presented as ‘the key to change’,
and the mention of the need for financial measures (state aid,
in order to develop
tax incentives and financial support)
renewables; (question 7)

therefore considers that co-financing of development aid
8.
for renewable (flow) energies by the fossil and nuclear energy
industries (stored energies) would be an economically justified
response to the genuine competition disadvantages with which
renewable energies have to contend; (question 7)

to consumers,
including enterprises, building contractors,
architects, transport companies, planners, and civil society
associations, all of whose decisions influence ultimate energy
consumption patterns. (questions 9 and 13) Application of the
subsidiarity principle in the field of energy supply is a crucial
issue if one really wants to take account of all
local and
regional energy saving potential and local resources;

highlights the key role played by local and regional
10.
authorities in framing and implementing a policy of this kind,
which will rely heavily on stimulating action at local level. A
demand culture and supply culture must develop in tandem:
in other words, all those involved, members of the public as
well as industrialists and mayors, will need to know the
potential energy savings for which they are individually
responsible and be encouraged to establish ‘action plans’ to
optimise this potential. Financial and human resources, both at
EU and national levels will need to be reallocated accordingly;
(question 13)

11.
considers that the measures for implementing a policy
on demand management and promotion of decentralised
energies have largely already been identified. The real issue is
how to translate them into reality. This is a matter of joint
political decision-making on the part of the EU and the
Member States, in conjunction with all the players involved,
including local and regional authorities.
It will primarily
involve:

— setting quantified, and if necessary binding, targets which
can be tailored to local actors, including local and regional
authorities;

— introducing a raft of legal, fiscal, regulatory, organis-
ational, technological and incentive measures, so designed
that they can be integrated into the decision-making
systems of the widest possible number of players;

— introducing a requirement that Action Plans for improv-
ing energy efficiency and developing decentralised energy
sources be introduced at different territorial levels (EU,
Member States, regions, municipalities etc.) and in differ-
ent sectors (transport, construction, industry, agriculture);

— a policy to promote co-generation, including on a small

and medium scale;

9.
emphasises that a policy more oriented to demand
management and to renewable, decentralised energy sources
also requires the refocusing of attention and action on new
types of players at all levels and in all fields: from researchers

— a large-scale information campaign to counterbalance the
energy industry’s promotion of increased consumption,
probably combined with controls on its advertising;

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— supporting human resource development locally in order
to secure a better balance — as required by the market —
between measures to develop energy supply on the one
hand and measures to manage demand and decentralised
energy sources on the other; (question 9)

takes note of the statement that ‘the contribution of
12.
atomic energy in the medium term must be analysed’ on the
basis of such factors as the decision by most Member States to
relinquish this sector, the fight against global warming, security
of supply and sustainable development; (question 8)

13.
would point out that energy — particularly electricity
— transport networks must also meet environmental require-
ments. The negative impact of these networks on the environ-
ment must not be underestimated and the regions concerned
must be involved in any projects at the earliest possible stage;
(question 6)

14.
shares the Commission’s view that agreements with the
producer countries are the best means of ensuring physical
security of supply, but stresses that the EU’s security of supply
is interconnected with that of all consumers on the planet,
particularly consumers in emerging and developing countries.
Consequently, the transfer of energy saving and renewable
energy technologies and techniques to these countries, under
both international and decentralised cooperation schemes,
should be regarded as an integral part of our own security
policy; (questions 1 and 4)

15.
looking towards sustainable development, considers
that it is not only a moral obligation for the industrialised
northern countries to share the planet’s fossil energy resources,
which they have hitherto monopolised, but also a wise political
step towards world peace, and suggests that the EU propose
international cooperation projects, especially with developing
countries and the countries of central and eastern Europe, in
the context of sustainable development ‘for all’; (questions 1
and 4)

Recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

— the need to infuse impetus into policies to control energy

demand and develop renewables;

— as the leading global economic power, the European
Union has the weight to influence international policies
towards a sustainable energy policy, provided it speaks
with a single voice; (question 2)

calls on the Commission to offset the ‘if no measures
17.
are taken’ scenario evoked several times in the Green Paper by
other scenarios showing what would happen ‘if a proactive
policy were implemented’ in the areas of demand management,
development of renewable and decentralised energy sources
and relaunch of nuclear power; these scenarios should incor-
porate the role of local and regional authorities as systemati-
cally as possible; (questions 9 and 13)

to boost

considers that,

18.
the credibility of making
demand management the top policy priority, the contents of
this policy need to be much more clearly defined, the Action
Plan for improving energy efficiency needs to be more
ambitious and more integrated into both sectoral and territorial
policies, and the Community programmes supporting it,
particularly SAVE, need to be brought into line with these new
ambitions; (question 9)

19.
suggests that consideration be given to an Energy
Efficiency Framework Directive, — with subsidiary directives
on buildings, transport, equipment, etc. similar to what has
been done with the directive on electricity from renewable
sources. The directive, covering the points outlined above,
should commit Member States to quantified energy efficiency
targets and be accompanied by action plans and corresponding
measures, within the overall framework of a policy agreed
and implemented in cooperation with local and regional
authorities. Territorial energy saving plans at national, regional
and local level would alert and mobilise a range of players
needed to implement a proactive policy on demand manage-
ment and development of
renewable and decentralised
resources, needing the stimulus of ‘demand’ for technology
from contracting authorities in the public and private sector;
(questions 9 and 13)

considers that there are at least four arguments for

16.
integrating energy in a chapter of the EU Treaty:

— the integration of energy policies, particularly under the

impact of creation of the internal energy market;

— compliance with the international agreements jointly
entered into by the EU and the Member States, particularly
on climate protection;

20.
suggests that, under the aegis of the European Com-
mission, energy efficiency experts be mobilised as soon as
possible from the various EU countries to hone the details of
the demand policy which the Green Paper defines as the
central pillar of the Union’s energy strategy: i.e. the steps which
need to be taken in the areas of legislation and regulation,
institutions and human resources, financial and tax incentives,
information, training and research programmes at community
and national
(including in the applicant countries);
level
(questions 9 and 13)

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21.
reiterates its view that a policy oriented towards
controlling demand at European level needs to have a fiscal
dimension — based on energy consumption and greenhouse
gas emissions, but knows from experience that a broad
spectrum of measures and aid is necessary to implement this
kind of policy. In particular, the financial support measures
which the Green Paper recommends for renewable energies
ought also to be applied to energy savings; (question 3)

22.
suggests that demand management ought to be given
more priority in the forthcoming directive amending Directives
96/92/EC and 98/30/EC on common rules for the internal
market in electricity and natural gas, as one of the public
service obligations in the area of sustainable development
(energy efficiency, combined production of energy and heat,
renewable energy sources, energy taxation, facility of access of
local distribution networks to transport networks); (question
9)

23.
suggests that the Green Paper complement the policy
on promoting renewable energy sources — addressed in the
recent common position (COD 2000/00116) of the Parliament
and the Council in view of the Directive on the promotion of
electricity from renewable sources — by giving more attention
to the contribution of renewables to heat generation, rather
than simply, as is generally the case, to the production of
electricity. Biomass, geothermal, solar and thermal power,
amongst others, have a major impact at local and regional,
urban and rural levels and offer considerable potential in this
area. Greater heed must be given to this policy, which must
not be confined, as is often the case, to the production of
electricity. Particular attention should be given to integrating a
‘renewable energy’ component in new buildings and those
in all
undergoing major renovation and, more broadly,
decisions relating to buildings and transport. Community

Brussels, 15 November 2001.

support programmes, particularly ALTENER,
brought into line with these ambitions; (question 7)

should be

24.
suggests that the concept of security of supply for EU
consumers be included in future Community documents on
the Electricity and Gas Directives, in the context of a public
service which must be universally available and which might
— in a broad sense — become a fourth pillar of Community
energy policy;

25.
suggests that, taking account of the Green Paper’s
emphasis on environmental concerns, the risks of nuclear
accidents and pollution should be integrated into the analysis,
at the same level as the fight against global warming; and that
the use of coal, which has its disadvantages from the point of
view of the greenhouse effect but presents undeniable advan-
tages in terms of security of supply, of longevity of resources
and of the development of ‘clean’ European channels on
international markets, and should not be dismissed out of
hand; (question 8)

26.
suggests that an ‘emergency plan for reducing energy
use’ in the CEECs should be incorporated as a full component
of the EU’s strategy for the security of energy supply, with the
involvement of local and regional authorities in these countries
and the promotion of decentralised co-operation between
local and regional authorities, as a fully-fledged tool
for
transferring know-how and bringing about adoption of the
acquis communautaire;

27.
calls for the networks of local authorities specialising
in the energy field and working towards a sustainable energy
policy, to be fully involved in the planning and implementation
of measures and dissemination of the relevant information.
(question 13)

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT