"Europe needs a new common energy policy", Energy Minister and Council President Martin Bartenstein said today at the presentation of the Energy Green Paper by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. The Green Paper lays the foundation for this, according to Minister Bartenstein, who said it would provide the basis for a secure, sustainable and competitive energy supply in Europe.
The Austrian Presidency will discuss the new European energy policy on 14 March in the context of the Extraordinary Council of Ministers in Brussels. A document will be prepared on the basis of the Green Paper and the analysis by the 25 Member States, and submitted to the Heads of State and Government at the spring Summit. The decisions of the Heads of State and Government will then be implemented at the operational level at the Energy Council on 8 June.
Bartenstein congratulated Commissioner Piebalgs on his excellent work, saying he had set the right priorities in the Green Paper. The key objective was for Europe to speak with one voice in the energy sector in future and step up the dialogue with major supplier countries such as Russia.
It is particularly important in this context to facilitate a European internal energy market, according to Bartenstein. To that end, the general conditions for investment in cross-border gas and electricity transmission need to be improved, which in turn calls for extending the powers of the energy regulators.
Minister Bartenstein said it was also important to promote alternative energy and renewable energy sources. Austria was in a very good position in this respect, being the European leader in the use of renewables and one of the leaders in energy efficiency. To achieve this, investment in new technologies across Europe was necessary and the opportunities offered by biomass or biogas had to be seized. "We want Europe to become world champion in energy efficiency and renewables", Bartenstein declared.
Bartenstein welcomed the Commission’s clear acknowledgement that the energy mix remained a matter for national governments. This was particularly important in the context of the debate on the use of nuclear energy in Europe. Austria had always been firmly against the nuclear option and would remain so in future
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