Activites

• 1998/01/19 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1997/12/18 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0632/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Umberto SCAPAGNINI (UPE, I) on the Commission communication 'an overall view of energy policy and actions' Parliament called for European energy policies to be brought together in a chapter on energy in the EC Treaty and requested that for all Community decisions in this sector Parliament should be involved via the codecision procedure. It called on the Commission in future to indicate clearly in its proposals on energy how the Community will meet its obligations with regard to environmental protection, improvement of the employment level and the quality of life of its citizens. Parliament also considered that the role of the European Energy Observatory should be strengthened as a means of defining guidelines for European energy policy, able to provide a reliable point of reference for operators and the energy market. It called on the Commission to make regular assessments of the energy and environmental policies pursued by the Member States so as to study the degree of compatibility between national energy and environmental objectives and those adopted by the Union. It also drew attention to the importance of renewable energies and the steady growth in the consumption of natural gas in the Community. Deploring the drastic cuts made by the Council in relation to the energy budget, it called on the Commission to ensure the transparency of external action in this sector so that Parliament could properly monitor the cooperation with non-member countries in the framework of Phare, Tacis, Meda or the EDF. It also pointed to the need for indirect Community research and development measures to give proper importance to innovative energy technologies, giving preference to renewable energies and natural gas (liquefaction, transportation and regasification). It also advocated that the substantial investments needed for the application of these substitute energies should not fall on citizens. It considered that the Community institutions should take part in the development of electricity production from the nuclear sector in view of the possibilities offered by this type of energy production for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Lastly Parliament recalled its support for the drawing up of a framework programme for energy policy which would allow the deployment of significant measures in this field. �

• 1997/12/16 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1997/10/08 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0308/1997
• #2009
• 1997/05/27 Council Meeting
  • 2009
• 1997/05/16 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/04/23 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1997)0167 summary

    OBJECTIVE: clarify current Community policy in the field of energy and propose new initiatives with a view to strengthening cooperation between the Member States in this area. SUBSTANCE: the European Union's energy policy is already based on a wide range of programmes and legal instruments. For this reason, the Commission is for the first time presenting an overall view of the main components of energy policy. This energy policy outline also covers actions taken in cooperation with Member States and those taken by the Union itself, together with the financial aspects (details of annual budgets for Community energy actions and programmes). Communication also sets out the major challenges facing the Union in the relatively near future. The spectacular increase in the external energy dependency of the European Union. It currently stands at 50% and could increase by 2020 to as much as 70%, 80% and 90% for natural gas, coal and oil respectively. The growing need to ensure more competitive energy prices: compared with the United States, European industry pays far more for energy. For instance, it is estimated that in the chemical sector European companies pay up to 45% more than their US competitors. However, prospects look encouraging in the energy sector and it is expected that the forthcoming liberalization of the electricity market will provide substantial benefits amounting to ECU 10-12 m per annum. The introduction of third party access in gas would also lead to a cost reduction of ECU 9 m per annum; The need to render energy and environmental objectives more compatible, particularly in view of the Union's undertakings concerning climatic change (in March 1997, the Council set as an objective a 15% reduction in greenhouse gas omissions by the year 2010). The development of 'clean and efficient' energy technologies: it is necessary to strengthen security of supply and diversify energy sources while achieving energy savings. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to ensure closer links between the different stages of research and development and improve cooperation between Member States. Two lessons can be drawn from this analysis: 1. Further measures must be taken in the energy sector to meet more effectively the significant forecast increase in external dependence and the objectives regarding competitiveness and the environment. It is necessary to achieve a better targeting of Community actions on the basis of priority objectives and to optimise the utilization of financial resources to encourage synergies and identify areas where energy measures can be improved. 2. Efforts should be made to achieve clarification and simplification to satisfy more effectively the Union's priorities in this area through definition of a new legal basis to achieve a more efficient energy policy and to give it a higher profile.�

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1997)0167
• Debate in Council: 2009
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0308/1997
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0632/1997

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)