Raül Romeva i Rueda

Malgrat la retòrica utilitzada, la proposta d’Estratègia Energètica Europea presentada per la Comissió Europea el passat 10 de gener suposa un pas més cap a la renacionalització de la política Europea d’Energia. Aquestes són, entre d’altres, les tesis que el nostre company de Grup i ponent del Parlament Europeu pel què fa a la lliberalització del mercat energètic europeu, l’eurodiputat verd luxemburguès Claude Turmes, ha posat de manifest en el marc del debat energètic actual. Segons Turmes: "Two examples show the way how the whole decision process was driven through EU Commission: (segueix…) 

On renewables:  President  Barroso has outvoted Piebalgs and the expert civil servants in his DG. The "sector specific" approach they favoured to promote renewables is building on the experience of the last years as renewables progressed in the area where the EU had introduced powerful legislation – the field of electricity, whereas those areas where the EU had only soft legislation – the biofuel area – or no legislation – the heating & cooling area, the potentials for renewables have not been exploited. 

Under pressure from the big energy utilities who don’t like the existing renewables electricity directive because it favours new entrance in the markets they dominate so heavily and with the argument of giving bigger flexibility to Member States, Barroso is killing a successful instrument and replaces it with some spin. The announcement of a binding 20% overall renewable target, which he perfectly knows will never pass the Council, is a cynical approach and a re-nationalisation of what should be the EU’s biggest energy source in 2020.

The other renationalisation is the area of state aid. Here Barroso gives in to Blair and the nuclear lobby in their demand to get the EU waiver for huge state aid for subsidising new nuclear reactors. The nuclear industry enjoys already today "a special economic zone" inside the EU electricity market. The risk liabilities are not fully covered by the operators but by international agreements and the payment for decommissioning costs of nuclear reactors has no common EU rules. In some countries nuclear operators don’t set aside enough money. French nuclear operator EDF was reported in a 2004 French Court of Auditors report to fall short of 17 billion of EURO of set aside money. In UK Blair’s government is subsidising the nuclear industry decommissioning with 5 billion tax payers money after the collapse of British Energy in 2002.

Furthermore half of E.on’s billions to buy up Endesa will come from E.on’s tax exempt decommissioning fund. Now nuclear operators could receive even more undue advantages. The occasion could be with the revision of the state aid for environment end of 2007 as  the scope of the state aid allowed in the internal electricity market which are limited today to renewables and energy efficiency may be widened to the concept of low carbon technology, the code word for enabling state aid for new nuclear reactors.  This change will hand the pro-nuclear governments even more opportunities to distort the single energy market.

This re-nationalisation is not in the advantage of the European idea and the institutional power of the EU Commission. Such a weakening would have been difficult to pass through Commission and its often  blamed civil servants and their institutional memory. That is why Barroso has promoted a completely new way of decision making inside Commission. The Strategic Energy Review – the only document which Heads of states and their energy ministers will read and discuss – is not at all going to the normal inter-service consultation, where the experts from the different directorate generals analyse and discuss Commission documents.

Instead of this more democratic procedure a new procedure has been developed in which the "Blair fraction" in the EU Commission – Catherine Day, secretary general of the Commission, Alex Ellis from the Barroso cabinet and Christopher Jones from Piebalgs cabinet have negotiated behind the back of the rest of the administration a deal with the three big Member States – UK, France and Germany. This explains also why ownership unbundling will not be the sole option retained whereas the tow Commissioners in charge, Piebalgs for energy and Kroes for Competition favour this option.

Barroso’s is again up to his reputation of replacing the "methode communautaire" by an approach where he largely plays the secretariat of the UK, F, D "Presidium" instead of taking a EU interest approach. To fully understand Barroso?s logic behind the strategic energy review in January you need to add one point. Barroso’s big personal interest for the last 2 years of his term lies in bringing the European Institute of Technology (EIT) to life. Until now the reactions of governments, academia and businesses is reserved and the EP has decided not to allocate seed funding. Barroso needs urgently money if the EIT is to fly. He recently announced that "climate change" will be a major priority of the EIT and that E.on, EDF, AREVA are very interested in this public private partnership. 

Foto: Claude Turmes