EU moet uit concurrentie-overwegingen zuiniger zijn met energie (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU must cut internal energy waste by 20 percent by 2020 to combat import dependency on countries such as Russia, the European Commission's efficiency action plan will urge next week.

"Over half of all energy produced by Europeans is not being used by Europeans," said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso i during a meeting with Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store in Brussels on Tuesday (10 October), adding that unchecked waste will cost the EU €100 billion a year by 2020 and help see 70 percent of EU energy imported by 2030.

Brussels' efficiency action plan - a follow-up to its energy policy green paper in March - faced last-minute delays after Mr Barroso rejected earlier drafts for being too vague, but will now see the light of day between 18 and 23 October.

The president on Tuesday previewed the final contents, saying he will propose new EU design regulations for household items such as boilers, TVs and light bulbs and suggest extending EU rules on energy-saving building design.

The plan will aim to toughen up standards for small power plants and plug gaps in the EU's carbon emissions-trading scheme (ETS) as well as calling for all new cars to emit no more than 120g of CO2 per km by 2012.

The commission boss also championed the use of nuclear power in the EU's drive to cut mounting dependency on energy imports, saying Europe needs to "examine the role nuclear power can play in a dispassionate and objective manner."

Meanwhile, Brussels is already working on new pacts with Norway and Russia - which supplies 25 percent of EU oil and gas - to help secure export contracts, as well as drafting "memorandums of understanding" on gas and oil supplies with Algeria, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Shtokman surprise may have been political

The EU and Norway's plans to forge closer cooperation with Russia in developing Russia's huge Shtokman gas field in the Arctic Circle suffered a setback on Monday however, when Gazprom said it would handle the project without Norwegian, French or US help.

"We hope such a decision is taken on economic, not political grounds," Mr Barroso stated, after speculation the Shtokman move comes as punishment for Washington's embarrassing refusal to give Russia permission to join the WTO at the G8 summit in June.

Plans to use the Barents Sea to bring Russia closer to Europe "is linked to political will, trust and the ability to create areas of cooperation" Norway's Mr Store added, expressing surprise that Russia's Shtokman plans changed so suddenly, with Brussels and Oslo learning of the decision from Russian TV.

The foreign minister - who says energy comes up at all of his bilateral meetings these days - stressed that Norway is a "unique" and "indigenous" energy partner for the EU due to its "predictable" markets and pro-green credentials.

EU friend profits from instability

Norway's gas exports to the EU will grow from 85 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 130 bcm - enough to power Germany for 12 years - by 2010, he added, at a time when almost half the world's oil and gas comes from "high risk countries, in political terms."

But the EU and Norway's energy friendship might not be all that it seems, one EU diplomat told EUobserver, with instability in the Russian market helping keep oil and gas prices high and helping Oslo to charge a risk-based premium for its "safe" exports.

"It's in Norway's interest to keep the status quo on Russia," the contact said.