Energy Council discusses internal electricity market, energy TENs, energy policy Green Paper and THERMIE II
The European Ministers responsible for energy policy met at the Energy Council in Luxembourg on 1 June 1995. The main points of discussion were: - The completion of the internal electricity market; - Trans-European networks (TENs) in the energy sector; - The Green Paper "For an energy policy of the European Union"; - The THERMIE II programme. With regard to the Commission's proposed Directive for the completion of the internal electricity market, the Council accepted the principle put forward by the Commission of the simultaneous introduction and application of two systems: negotiated Third Party Access (TPA) to the network and a modified single buyer model. It is hoped that a final decision on the proposal will be reached by the end of the year and a common position forwarded to the Parliament. The Council also adopted unanimously two decisions concerning TENs in the energy sector: a decision establishing general orientations and a decision determining a set of actions aimed at establishing a more favourable context. It was further decided to create a committee on this issue, and it is hoped that these decisions will open the way for investments in this sector. The Council further adopted a resolution on the Green Paper "For an energy policy of the European Union". The resolution represents the Member States' contribution to the public debate on the future energy policy of the Union. On the basis of this contribution and the contributions of other institutions and interested parties (European Parliament, Economic and Social Committee), the Commission will prepare a White Paper which should be adopted by the end of the year. As regards the THERMIE II programme, the Council was unable to reach a decision on the use of the ECU 30 million foreseen by the European Parliament for the 1995 budget. It was recognized that a Council decision was needed in order to create the necessary legal basis for using these credits but the compromise proposal put forward by the French presidency was opposed by the United Kingdom and Germany and the matter has once again been referred back to COREPER. The Council was also informed by the Commission on the progress of work on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the energy sector, on the report on the revision of the Community energy legislation, and on the need to implement the Energy Charter Treaty by securing the functioning of the Charter secretariat and defining common priorities of cooperation within the framework of the Charter Treaty.