WRITTEN QUESTION E-4055/03 by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission. Renewable energy.
Date: 2004-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Scotland, energy grid, energy market, energy policy, energy production, reduction of gas emissions, renewable energy, statistics, trans-European network

C 84 E/746

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

including the arrest of
The Commission has been closely following recent events
Mr Khodorkovsky and the seizure of a significant proportion of Yukos shares by the Russian authorities.

in Russia,

The Commission is aware of allegations of the violation of constitutional and due process in this case.
It understands that lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Khodorkovsky are currently seeking redress through the
Russian legal system and in the European Court of Human Rights. The Commission will follow with great
interest the outcome of such legal challenges.

the Union/Russia Summit on 6 November 2003 and the meeting of

At
the EU/Russia Permanent
Partnership Council on 27 April 2004(cid:1) as well as on the occasion of other political dialogue meetings
with the Russian authorities (cid:1) the Commission has underlined the need for Russia to ensure the fair, non-
discriminatory and proportional application of the law. It has stressed that these principles constitute
essential elements of the Union/Russia partnership and that failure to respect them risks undermining the
progress made in Russia in the last few years to create a positive environment for the development of trade
and investment.

(2004/C 84 E/0841)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4055/03

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 January 2004)

Subject: Renewable energy

What proportion of the overall TEN-E budget goes to renewable energies, and how much of this goes to
Scotland in line with project 350 in Annex III of Decision No 1229/2003/EC (1) of the European
Parliament and Council of 26 June 2003 laying down a series of guidelines for trans-European energy
networks and repealing Decision No 1254/96/EC (2)?

Which Member States are the worst and best performers in terms of developing renewable energy? What
proportion of EU energy output ought ideally to come from renewables in order to meet the Kyoto targets,
and what proportion of that output could potentially come from Scotland in particular? Can such statistics
be broken down into different sources of renewable energy?

(1) OJ L 176, 15.7.2003, p. 11.
(2) OJ L 161, 29.6.1996, p. 147.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(16 February 2004)

Before June 2003, only one project relating to the connection of wind power to the electricity
transmission grid had been identified under the Guidelines for trans-European energy networks (TEN-
Energy). This project, which concerned the strenthening and development of connections in the North-East
and the West of Spain, was supported under the TEN programme (with a financial support of
EUR 0,2 million decided by the Commission in 1999).

including one
With the June 2003 revision of the TEN-Energy Guidelines, several similar projects,
concerning similar connections in Scotland and England, have been identified and are now eligible to TEN
financial support. These projects may benefit
from TEN financial support provided that a related
application is submitted to the Commission and that such application is evaluated favorably and selected,
following the annual TEN financial support procedure. The application form for 2004 will be circulated in
the coming weeks by the Commission.

3.4.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

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In order to support market development and to trigger the transition towards a ‘sustainable and green
Europe’ in terms of energy, the Union has set itself ambitious targets:

(cid:1) An overall target of increasing the share of renewable energy in the total gross inland consumption

from 6 % (late nineties) to 12 % in 2010.

(cid:1) A target of 22 % of electricity consumption in 2010 to be generated by renewable energy, adopted in

2003 including national targets.

(cid:1) A specific target of 5,75 % of consumption of motor vehicle fuel in 2010 to be of biomass origin,
adopted in 2002 with an obligation by Member States to set individual targets in 2004 for their
gradual phasing in bio-fuels towards 2010.

The Commission will present to the Council and to the Parliament a complete report on the situation in
the different Member States as far as green electricity is concerned, before summer 2004.

This penetration of renewable energies, requiring additional and reinforced policy action, could contribute
to an annual saving of about 190 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2010 (compared to the trend
rate of increase in renewable energy, 1995-2000), around half of what is needed to fulfil the Kyoto target.

There is an important potential for renewable energy sources in the heating sector, especially in the
biomass area and a lack of a quantified target in this sector for Scotland. Electricity produced from
renewable energy sources, mainly hydro, now make up around 13 % of supply in Scotland and the Scottish
Executive has set up a target of 18 % by 2010 under the framework of the ‘Renewables Obligation Order’.
The Executive is currently considering a target of 40 % of electricity production from renewables for 2020.

(2004/C 84 E/0842)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4056/03

by Elspeth Attwooll (ELDR) to the Commission

(13 January 2004)

Subject: Implementation of the environmental acquis

In its Fourth Annual Survey on the implementation and enforcement of Community environment law, the
Commission’s scoreboard on implementation of the acquis demonstrates that the UK was particularly weak
in adopting national measures to transpose directives within the appropriate deadlines. Can the
Commission provide a comparative analysis in relation to both the UK and the rest of the EU on the
success or failure of the Scottish Executive specifically to implement the environmental acquis in those
areas over which it has competence?

Furthermore, given that the Fourth Annual Survey has highlighted continued problems with regard to
implementation of the environmental acquis across the EU, what action is the Commission taking to
improve implementation levels, and how successful is such action so far? What additional powers would
the Commission like to have to enforce legislation?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2004)

The record of the United Kingdom in transposing Community environmental legislation is not significantly
different than for the other Member States. The Honourable Member probably refers to the table and the
graph on page 44 of the Fourth Annual Survey, according to which there were 21 cases for non-
communication open against the United Kingdom in comparison with 97 for all Member States (i.e. 21,6 %
of all cases for the United Kingdom) by 31 December 2002.