Role and Benefits of Electricity to Society
CLOSING SPEECHES
 Delivering the closing speech, Heinz Hilbrecht,
Director for Conventional Energies at the European Commission, underlined
a number of points arising during the various debates at the EURELECTRIC
Oslo conference and linked them to the Commission’s aims and intentions on
the energy policy front in the coming year.
Stressing that the development of competitive
electricity and gas markets is a “high priority” for the
Commission, Mr Hilbrecht acknowledged that “electricity should not
always be cheap” and underlined that it would be wrong to claim that
liberalisation had led to higher prices. Nevertheless, the “picture is
variable” - especially as regards transparency and market integration
- and that “while some variability can be tolerated”, the
Commission will “examine whether modifications to the legislative
framework” should be put forward in 2007.
Mr Hilbrecht reiterated the Commission’s hope that that
the competitive market will engender a “high degree of innovation”
in energy services and pointed to the “exciting area” and “huge
potential” of new energy- and electro-technologies “Low carbon
energy production is a key requirement for our future and the right
incentives are needed” to encourage research across the board in
energy for industry, households and transport, he stressed.
Turning to the Commission’s recent Green Paper on
Energy Policy, Mr Hilbrecht reiterated its four basic issues – EU
reliance on external energy sources; the EU commitment to curbing climate
change; investments in the energy sector; and the rising global energy
consumption – and indicated that as a follow-up to the current
consultation exercise the Commission would issue a package of eight
separate papers by end-2006. These will be: a strategic energy review
focusing on the key issues of external energy policy and solidarity
between Member States on security of supply; an (annual) report on the
state of the internal energy market including individual country-reviews;
an action plan on energy efficiency; a roadmap on renewable energy; a
strategic energy technology plan; a communication on physical
infrastructure security; a priority interconnector plan; an illustrative
programme for nuclear power generation (PINC).
Mr Hilbrecht underlined that solutions to the three
issues of sustainability, supply security and competitiveness require a “very
diverse approach”. “We cannot decide the precise mix of strategies
which will deliver a successful energy sector. The important thing is for
Community policy to make space for different approaches to make a
contribution to our common goal”, hence the need for “non-discriminatory
energy markets”.
The Commission Director expressed appreciation for the
“support” and “valuable contribution” of the electricity
industry in this work and thanked EURELECTRIC for the valuable opportunity
for the Commission to “share its ideas and listen to stakeholders”
of the industry.
 “We are now at a pivotal moment for European energy
policy and Europe must decide on its outlook, must have a clear vision of
how it intends to go forward”, EURELECTRIC President Rafael Miranda
underlined at the close of the Oslo Conference. Giving the farewell
address to the delegates, Mr Miranda posed the question whether the Member
States of the European Union “want to retreat into national structures,
seek purely national solutions, or continue on the path of European
integration through market-integration”, giving the clear answer that
“EURELECTRIC believes we should pursue market-based solutions to energy
challenges. And for this we need to pursue market-integration”.
Referring to the
Oslo Declaration issued
during the conference, the President said that the debates over the two
days in Oslo had “strengthened my belief that we must all join together
to drive the regional market initiative forward, with an action- and
implementation-oriented approach, and ensure that it becomes a success
story on the way to the final goal of a pan-European Energy Market”. “I
hereby call upon electricity stakeholders, policy-makers, governments,
regulators and market-players to join forces and show leadership in
furthering regional markets.
For our part, we of EURELECTRIC stand ready to foster
practical commitments and implement agreements”, he assured the
stakeholders.
Mr Miranda said that the frank exchange of views heard
during these two days “have also underlined the need for further
dialogue and partnership with our customers in order to find market-based
solutions to their needs”.
Turning to the sessions focussing on the Role of
Electricity, Mr Miranda underlined once again that electricity can
provide many important solutions - both on the supply and demand side - in
order to “meet the challenges of energy security and sustainable
development in a rapidly-changing world. Indeed, I would stress that
Europe will only be able to meet the enormous energy challenge by
according a greater role to electricity. Electricity is really
something to be proud of”, he stressed.
Mr Miranda thanked the hosts, Norwegian national energy
association EBL, official conference sponsor Accenture, and the supporting
organisations who had made a valuable contribution to the event.
Closing, Rafael Miranda looked forward to the next EURELECTRIC Annual
Conference, inviting all participants to gather in Antwerp on 11-12 June
2007, where the main theme will be a reflection on ten years of energy
liberalisation in Europe and a look forward to the next ten years in the
energy sector.
|
