Toespraak Barroso over samenwerking EU-Noorwegen (en)

The EU/Norway Partnership: a European Approach to Energy Security and Climate Change

Europe Conference

Oslo, 25 February 2008

Foreign Minister,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to begin by thanking you and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for organising this conference and inviting me to speak to you. Energy and climate change are the defining challenges of our generation, and it is a privilege to be able to share a few words with you on these issues.

Henrik Ibsen once observed that a thousand words cannot make the mark a single deed would leave. So I am suitably humble about the direct contribution this speech will make to energy security and climate change.

But when it comes to deeds, when it comes to action, both Norway and the European Union can hold their heads up high - as I will show.

Norway has always been a natural partner for the EU. We have a quite unique relationship that reflects its great importance.

On the one hand, there is the legal, structured, institutional context. Norway is as integrated into EU structures as it is possible to be without actually being a Member State, and as such makes a very important contribution to the political life of the union.

On the other hand, there is the context of our international, multilateral co-operation. And here we cherish the support of Norway as a very close partner which shares our values and policy objectives across a range of issues, from development to the United Nations.

Our energy and climate change relationship is no less special. Norway is an essential gas supplier, for example, exporting all its produced gas to the EU.

It is also fundamental to our security of energy supplies. In fact, if all our external suppliers were as sure and reliable as Norway, energy security would be much less of an issue within the EU today!

Norway has an emissions trading system that is structured along the same lines as the EU's. The recent agreement by EEA countries, including Norway, to link up with the EU's emissions trading system sends a strong message to the rest of the world that linkage of such systems is achievable.

And to let you into a secret, we don't plan on keeping this simply as an EU/EEA system - indeed, the ETS is designed to be compatible with others. The carbon market we are building must be truly global to succeed.

And Norway has a long tradition of participating in EU research programmes, particularly environmental and renewable energy research. The benefits to both sides are clear: Norway gains access to a large international research network, and the EU research community benefits from the invaluable input of Norwegian scientists.

But our energy and climate change relationship is special for another, crucially important, reason. By our joint and individual actions, we are setting an example that the rest of the world will follow.

In other words, together, we in Europe are not only showing real leadership, but also strengthening energy and climate action globally, and increasing the chances of an international agreement to combat climate change.

This is important, because the challenge we face is called global warming, not European warming. Once again, only global action is likely to be effective.

Close co-operation between the EU and Norway at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last December helped bring the breakthrough we were looking for: a clear mandate for a new global agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol by the end of next year.

I believe our initiatives, most recently the European Commission's climate action and renewable energy package, and Norway's national consensus on climate policy, could help the coming negotiations in several ways:

First, as an example to others. We are not huge emitters of greenhouse gases. The EU's share of emissions is just 14%, for example - and falling. But if we don't practise what we preach, no-one will take us seriously. And putting our ambitions into practice is exactly what we have done.

For example, Norway has pledged to cut CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020, exceed its Kyoto commitments by 10%, and become carbon neutral by 2050 - or 2030 as part of a binding international agreement.

The EU, for its part, has committed itself to a 30% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020 if other developed countries join us, and a 20% cut in the meantime, independent of global action. These are legally binding minimum targets.

It has also pledged to increase energy efficiency by 20% and the share of renewables in energy consumption to 20% by 2020 as well. Both will make an important contribution towards the EU's energy security.

This is all part of our effort to kick-start the EU's transition to a highly energy efficient, low-carbon economy, in order to secure a first mover advantage in emerging eco-technology markets, and avoid the far greater costs of postponing change.

But it also shows our partners in the developed world that making the deep emissions cuts necessary to avert the worst aspects of climate change is fully compatible with continued economic growth and prosperity.

A second way our activities can help negotiations for an international agreement is through the solutions we have found for effort sharing across countries that are very different in terms of wealth and natural endowments.

Within the EU there is now a major difference in average wealth levels. The average person in the richest Member State, Luxembourg, is 23 times better off than the average person in Bulgaria.

So to reduce emissions from parts of the economy not covered by the EU's emissions trading system - which means more than half of total emissions - we are proposing a fair distribution of the effort among Member States based on GDP per capita.

This differentiation leads to national emission targets ranging widely from reductions of 20% for the wealthiest Member States to an emissions increase of 20% for Bulgaria.

This means poorer Member States will have room to continue growing their economies, but they will still need to keep their emissions below 'business-as-usual' levels.

This gives real substance to the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'. We are applying at the EU level what we intend to apply at the global level. It will, I hope, give reassurance to emerging economies, which must also play a role in global efforts.

Then there is the question of natural endowments. Luxembourg, to take it as an example again, has many wonderful qualities. But nature has hardly blessed it with the same renewable energy prospects as Norway, for example. And yet with the current share of renewables in EU energy consumption at just 8.5%, all Member States must pull their weight if we are to reach our target of 20% in 12 years.

What does this mean for effort sharing?

It means we have to show flexibility. We are proposing that Member States should be free to set their own national action plan to meet their individual targets, and should also be able to meet those targets by helping develop renewable energy in other Member States.

This can reduce their compliance costs, while providing other Member States with useful additional income streams. It would also shift investment to where renewables can be produced most efficiently in the EU, cutting between €2-8 billion from the price tag for meeting the target. I think this could serve as a useful model for others.

A final way in which Norway and the EU are strengthening the prospects for international action is through the emissions trading system itself. The ETS was a pioneer in harnessing the power of the market to incentivise cuts in carbon emissions. It is a key tool for achieving emission reductions as efficiently and cheaply as possible.

So for us there is no question that the global carbon market must play a central role in a post-2012 climate agreement, in order to limit the costs of the emission reductions that need to be made globally.

Since its launch in 2005 the ETS has rapidly established itself as the main driver of the global carbon market. We have learned a lot in that time. Now the European Commission has come forward with a review of the ETS, including proposals for strengthening and extending it. I hope Norway will support the conclusions of this review, with a view to adopting similar improvements.

So what are these improvements?

We will develop an EU-wide cap with common rules to ensure a level-playing field.

We will be less generous with allocations - which will be reduced, year on year, to allow for our planned reduction in emissions.

Allowances will be auctioned, under common rules. Revenues will go to Member States - but any EU company will be able to buy allowances in any Member State.

The significant revenues raised in this way will, we hope, be used by Member States to finance adjustments to the low carbon economy, to support innovation, and to help developing countries.

We will also extend the ETS to include other greenhouse gases and all major industrial emitters. Smaller emitters can be exempt, to reduce the administrative burden. In this context, we are also ready to address the problems of energy intensive industries, for example if there is no comprehensive international agreement by 2012.

Putting a price on carbon in this way can give a major boost to emerging eco-technologies. Take carbon capture and storage, for example, which the European Commission strongly supports. EU leaders have already backed the idea of having up to 12 demonstration plants using this technology by 2015.

Our January package takes an ambitious and positive approach to support these projects. It offers a clear regulatory framework to ensure public confidence and provide legal certainty for operators.

The development of CO2 capture and storage, or CCS, involves significant financial risks. In the long run, a fully-developed emissions trading system should provide the right economic incentives through a stable CO2 price. However, these first demonstration plants are likely to require additional state support.

Here too our partnership is much in evidence, as Norway is the location of some important early CCS demonstration projects. While some of these are facing certain difficulties, Norway can rely on the European Commission's full political support in getting these projects on stream.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I have chosen to focus this speech on how our energy and climate change activities are strengthening the prospects of global action on energy and climate change.

But there is plenty of scope to develop our bilateral energy and climate change relationship still further.

I could mention Norway's High North policy, which is of great interest to the EU. We clearly have a common interest in ensuring the environmentally sustainable exploitation of energy resources, and their reliable, safe and secure transportation.

I could mention the Arctic strategy report the EU will release by the end of this year, which I hope will interest Norway. This will give priority to Arctic-related issues, including the impact that climate change is having on the particularly vulnerable Arctic environment.

I could mention Norway's full membership of the Seventh Research Framework Programme, giving it an important role to play in the development of the science strategy to underpin key topics like climate change, carbon capture and storage and renewable energy.

Following the recent adoption of an European Integrated Maritime Policy, and the active participation of Norway in the making of this new policy, I would also like to propose the establishment of a regular and structured dialogue on maritime issues.

This could include collaborating on plans for the development of important areas such as offshore energy, safety of navigation, marine environment protection, marine spatial planning and marine research in general.

After all, climate change is inextricably linked with ocean processes. As the planet's major thermostat, the oceans greatly influence our climate and absorb a proportion of C02 emissions. But our knowledge of ocean-atmosphere interaction, while improving, is still limited.

We must therefore invest far more in learning how the oceans can be part of the solution to climate change, including as a site for C02 absorption and disposal, and how to minimise the impact of climate change on vulnerable coastal regions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

That concludes my brief tour of how we Europeans are both leading and encouraging global action on energy security and climate change.

But beyond the environmental and economic implications of tackling climate change, we should not forget that this is also about peace and development.

And this fact was rightly emphasized by the Nobel Committee when it awarded - so justly - the peace prize to the UN Climate Change Panel and Al Gore.

Our task globally is made most urgent and important by the fact that developing countries are amongst those most threatened by and the least equipped to resist climate change.

The EU places the fight against poverty and the achievements of the Millenium Development Goals amongst its highest priorities - as does Norway, of course. And as the largest donor of development assistance worldwide, the EU demonstrates this commitment every day.

The fight against climate change, the struggle against poverty and for development, above all, the promotion of peace; these are the defining principles and the principal goals the European Union is pursuing in its global agenda.

They are the challenges facing us today in terms of global governance and the EU, like Norway with which it shares these basic values, will continue to seek ways to meet them.

I hope it is not my last visit to this beautiful country - and would like to think that this marks the start of a closer and even more fruitful partnership.

Thank you.