Europeanisation of Energy Policy

19Oct
2010
Dinner debate in Strasbourg

The Commissioner in charge of Energy, Günther H. Oettinger, has kindly accepted to be the guest speaker at our event.

His conclusions are: 
 
“European cooperation in energy is not yet fully mature. But further integration in energy policy really is the only way forward. It has started working for renewable energy policy, for the internal market and for emergency situations, such as the gas crisis in January 2009. Now we need to make it work continuously across the whole energy spectrum, across the whole economy and for the longer term.

The new energy strategy is very much about the actions to be undertaken in the coming eighteen months to realise our 2020 goals. We should not lose sight of the longer term. Our 2050 overall decarbonisation goals are clear in terms of emission reduction. What is therefore needed is to qualify the actions to be taken around clearly identified milestones in order to ensure that all three energy objectives will be met: sustainability, competitiveness and security.

So if we have a truly Europeanised approach in the next stage of our strategy, our task towards 2050 will be much simpler.
• We will be able to better plan, develop and implement our actions.
• We will find it easier and cheaper to deliver our goals.
• We will have greater coherence, solidarity and consistency at every level of decision-making – European, national, local and individual.
• We will have a stable investment climate for new projects and products.
• And we will be more effective in negotiations with our external partners.

I rely on the European Parliament and our partners across society and industry to work with me to Europeanise our energy policy. In this way we can make sure that what we do benefits our economy, our environment and above all the citizens of Europe.”