Activities of Sir Graham WATSON related to 2012/2103(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Energy roadmap 2050 (debate)
Amendments (14)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that the EU's energy policy should not, through the development of a green economy, boost rather than compromise the Union's competitiveness, nor should it allow for the risk of carbon leakage; calls, to that end, on the Commission to prepare initiatives in the event that global agreements on climate protection are not achieved;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) to set strategic priorities in external energy policy while pursuing an active climate policy by engaging key partners, such as the United States and the five BRICS countrieswith all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which includes the United States and the five BRICS countries as well as engaging with other partners such as Taiwan;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3f. Stresses that, given the Union's high dependence on energy imports, the diversification of supply sources and transit routes and the development of domestically produced EU renewable energy sources is an urgent and essential element supporting the Union's external security policy, strategic role and foreign policy independence;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that the Union's strategic partnerships with producer and transit countries, not just for oil, coal and gas but also electricity from renewable sources, and in particular countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), require adequate tools, predictability, stability and long-term investment; emphasises, to that end, that the Union's climate objectives must be in accord with EU infrastructure investment projects oriented at diversifying supply routes for both fossil fuels and electricity and increasing the Union's energy security;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the EU-Russia Energy Roadmap to be based on principles of mutual respect and reciprocity, grounded in World Trade Organisation, Energy Charter Treaty and Third Energy Package rules; calls on the Commission to implement and execute in an effective manner EU competition rules vis-à-vis all energy sector undertakings operating on the territory of the Union; welcomes, in this respect, the recent investigation into anticompetitive behaviour by Gazprom, and condemns the politically motivated decree of the Russian Federation barring its energy companies from cooperating with EU institution; calls on the Commission to propose an appropriate response to this decree and to ensure that the investigation can proceed;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that a clear policy and regulatory framework will stimulate the necessary investments for low-carbon energy investmentinto sustainable low-carbon technologies; Uunderlines the importance of an energy strategy focused on increasing the EU's energy security and economic competitiveness through measures such as increased deployment of European renewables, the diversification of supply routes and sources including better interconnection among Member States, and energy efficiency;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Emphasises the urgent need for new, smart and flexible infrastructure – including smart grids and smart meters – and a fully integrated network planning in orderEuropean grid system, inter alia, to integrate local and more remoterapidly growing sources of renewable energy across the EU, as has been proven necessarywell as new electricity use and storage (such as electric vehicles); stresses, moreover, the urgent need for the establishment of mechanisms to allow for EU financing of infrastructure pProjects of cCommon interestInterest in line with the Energy Infrastructure Guidelines and the Connecting Europe Facility;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Highlights that in order to achieve the total decarbonisation of the EU power supply in the long-term, there is a need to pursue closer integration with neighbouring countries and regions such as Norway, Switzerland and the Southern Mediterranean; stresses that Europe can benefit from the development of the substantial renewable sources of energy in these regions to meet both local demand and, with the development of long-distance grid interconnections, a limited percentage of EU demand;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that, as Member States pursue the goal of energy security and energy dependence, emphasis needs to be shifted towards a model of energy interdependence and sharing of renewable energy resources between Member States by ensuring the swift completion of the EU internal energy market and the EU supergrid infrastructure linking North and South, and East and West to best use the comparative advantages of Member States in renewable energy; highlights the importance of ensuring that policy and regulatory developments in Member States will eliminate remaining infrastructure ‘bottlenecks’ and will not create new barriers to electricity and gas or energy market integration; stresses, moreover, that energy policy decisions in each national system need to take account of how such decisions could affect other Member States;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Highlights the new challenges, such as the need for flexible back-up and balancing resources in the power system (e.g. flexible generation, storage, demand management), that will arise as the contribution of variable renewable generation increases; stresses the need to have sufficientfor a proper assessment of the capacity available in Europe to ensure security of electricity supply; stresses, in this regard, that policy developments in Member States should not create new barriers to electricity- or gas-market integratione importance of better interconnection between Member States and third countries; points out that according higher priority to demand-side management and demand-side energy generation would considerably strengthen the integration of decentralised energy sources and would advance the achievement of overall energy policy objectives;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls that markets mustregulated investment will continue to play the main role in financing energy infrastructure investments, while acknowledging that there are some innovative or strategically important projects that may require limited public support to leverage private funding; emphasises that any contribution from public finance should be based on clear, transparent criteria, should not distort competition and should take into account the interests of consumers;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Agrees with the Commission that natural gas will be critical formight play a role in the short- term in the transformation of the energy system, since it represents a quick, temporary and cost-efficient way of reducing reliance on other more polluting fossil fuels, thereby lowering greenhouse gas emissions relatively in the short-term; warns, however, against any investments which could lead to locked-in dependency on any fossil fuel, including gas, and hamper the move to a truly sustainable energy system;
Amendment 496 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Horizon 2020 and the European Innovation Partnerships under the Innovation Union prioritise the need to develop all types of sustainable low carbon technologies in order to spur EU competitiveness, promote job opportunities and bring about a change in consumer behaviour, meet the long-term climate change and energy targets, and bring about a change in consumer behaviour; calls therefore for at least three quarters of the energy research budget under the heading of Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy to be allocated to renewables and energy efficiency based on the priorities identified in the Strategic Energy Technologies Plan; highlights that the SET Plan should be financed through individual budget lines per technology with sufficient funds;