Agenda Energieraad: Groenboek Energiebeleid voor Europa, Actieplan biomassa, Richtlijn energiebesparing (en)

The EU Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 14 March at 10.00 under the chairmanship of Austrian Federal Minister of Economics and Labour Mr. Martin Bartenstein. The European Commission will be represented by the Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs i.

The Council of Ministers will be mainly devoted to hold a debate on Commission's Green Paper on a European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy.

There are four points on the agenda of the Energy Council:

• 1. 

  A New Energy Policy for Europe; the Green Paper on a Secure, Competitive and Sustainable Energy

On 8 March 2006 the European Commission adopted a Green Paper on a European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy. Mr. Andris Piebalgs, Energy Commissioner, will present the document to the delegates. The Green Paper represents a new beginning for energy policy in Europe. It marks a real change in direction and signals a realisation that energy is now truly a global issue, and the challenges that we face can only be solved at the global and thus European level. Furthermore the EU has the tools to help. It leads the world in tackling energy efficiency and promoting renewable energy and low carbon technologies. The EU needs a new common policy with a common voice on energy questions, to lead the global search for energy solutions. The Green Paper puts forward a basis for such a common policy. On the basis that our energy policy should have three core objectives, sustainable development, competitiveness and security of supply, it identifies six areas where concrete action is necessary: ( 1) The EU needs to complete the internal gas and electricity markets; ( 2) The EU needs to ensure that its internal energy market guarantees security of supply and solidarity between Member States ; ( 3) The Community needs a real Community-wide debate on its energy mix; ( 4) Europe needs to deal with the challenges of climate change in a manner compatible with its Lisbon objectives; ( 5) A strategic energy technology plan to make best use of Europe's resources by ensuring that European industries are world leaders in the new generation of technologies and processes and ( 6) An external energy policy. Delegates will hold a policy debate on the Green Paper. To structure the debate, the Presidency has prepared a questionnaire focusing on the Commission's analysis of the challenges facing the Community's energy policy and its proposed solutions.

• 2. 

  Agriculture Council's ongoing work on bio energy

The Presidency will inform delegates about policy debates of the Agriculture Council's meeting of 20 February 2006 on two European Commission's initiatives: the " Biomass Action Plan " and the "An EU Strategy for biofuels". The Commission adopted the "Biomass Action Plan" in December 2005 and the biofuels strategy in February 2006. The biomass action plan is best understood as a list of actions that the Commission is going to undertake, among which the most high-profile are: renewable energy in heating and cooling, transport biofuels, biomass supply and research. The biofuels strategy, on the other hand, explains in more detail biofuels "story".

• 3. 

  Directive on energy end-use and energy services

The Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive will require Member States to save at least an additional 1% of their final energy consumption each year for the next 9 years. In order to achieve these savings, Member States must adopt targets, impose obligations on their energy suppliers and prepare national Energy Efficiency Action Plans. Savings will be achieved in both the private and public sectors, using a framework of measures. The European Parliament held a vote on 13 December 2005 and now it is up to the Council to adopt this directive.

• 4. 

  Other business

Polish delegation will present their initiative for the European Energy Security Treaty (EEST). According to the proposal of Poland, the Treaty will be the first political instrument linking states in the area of mutual energy security guarantees. According to the Commission, the concerns of the Polish authorities have been considered in the production of the Green Paper on Energy. The Commission in its Green Paper proposes a common line in external policy and a solidarity mechanism, in case one member state has particular difficulties in security of supply.

At the end of the debate the presidency intends to draw a set of Presidency conclusions, which will constitute a complementary part of the energy input to the Spring European Council.