Clean Energy Package: towards a low-carbon economy
Statement of CEC European Managers and FECER (European Federation of Executives in the Sectors of Energy and Research)
FECER, the energy sector’s European federation affiliated to CEC European Managers has delivered just in time, for the beginning of the trilogue’s discussions, its 12 proposals to amend the Clean energy package of the European commission.
The proposal for the reforming of the energy markets put forward by the European Commission on 30thNovember 2016 consists of 8 legislative texts (4 directives and 4 regulations) and sets out a threefold ambition to be achieved by 2030:
- Speeding up the integration of electricity markets in Europe,
- A continued increase in the use of renewable energies and greater energy efficiency
- Placing the European consumer at the heart of the system
The recommendations are due to be adopted in 2018 and then to come into effect sometime between 2020 and 2021.
CEC European Managers supports FECER’s proposals[1] :
We believe that successfully reforming the European project means reforming the way in which we build Europe, by favouring the balancing of economic and social performance factors (the energy transition needs to be a fair transition) and by incorporating the general interest and long-term investments fairly. This is particularly true in the field of energy, a sector which is at the very heart of both citizens’ everyday lives and the economy.
We consider that reducing the carbon intensity of the economy should be the backbone of the European Commission’s proposals, which goes hand-in-hand with supporting low-carbon solutions and the introduction of a European consistent carbon price. However, the European Commission is still refusing to give any indications about the goal of the carbon price, preferring to leave things to the market, which risks simply repeating the same problems that we are seeing today. Both long-term security of energy supplies and support for industrial investments and the setting up of European industrial and technological sectors – which need to be powerful and to provide sustainable, qualified jobs – must also be top European political priorities in energy terms.
In addition to the fact that they make more sense, the latter would be likely to persuade both citizens and economic decision-makers that the building of Europe in energy terms is being done in a way that serves European citizens – and thus the general interest – in the long term; it is clearly a matter of aligning European choices on climate, energy and industrial policy.
Finally, the building of Europe in the field of energy needs to give priority to cooperation and coordination, although without imposing a heavy-handed standardising integration process. The supranational level is relevant in many fields in which cooperation creates value and in which we are stronger together (energy diplomacy, climate policy, industrial cooperation or in the field of research and innovation, etc.), but the building of Europe must not, under any circumstances, lead to the imposition – sometimes tacitly and entrenched behind bland technical measures – of a uniform Europe-wide energy model, given that there are 28 specific individual energy organisations which have inherited political, economic and energy histories from each of the Member States, and tailored to their geographical and industrial constraints. So it is vital to adhere to the principle of subsidiarity which is confirmed by European energy treaties, following the example set by the diversity of energy and regulatory choices.
Contact:
Philippe Lazzarotto (FECER board member):
philippe.lazzarotto@cfe-energies.com
+33 645 81 85 25
www.fecer.eu
