Informal Energy Council meeting, Bologna, Italy
An informal Energy Council meeting was held in Bologna, Italy, on 3 February 1996. Items on the agenda included: - Discussion of the Commission's White Paper on Energy Policy; - Euro-Mediterranean Energy Cooperation; - Internal electricity market. The Ministers held a first exchange of views on the White Paper "An Energy Policy for the European Union", which constitutes the basis for the development of an EU energy policy. Mr. Christos Papoutsis, Commissioner responsible for energy, emphasized the need for a common approach to energy matters in light of the important role energy plays for the economic and social development of the EU and its Member States, as well as for the achievement of the basic aim of integration. In this context, the Commissioner presented a number of initiatives planned for 1996. These include: - The establishment of a programme to monitor energy trends in cooperation with Member States, industry and other bodies; - The organization of cooperation between Member States on agreed energy objectives with a view to increasing the efficiency of energy policies at both national and Community level. The Commission is presently reflecting on the choice of objectives to be proposed. It is intended that the majority of these should be qualitative in nature (such as security of supply or diversity of fuels), but sectoral objectives, such as energy efficiency, may also be proposed; - The establishment of an Energy Consultative Committee representing all energy interests to act as a consultative body for the European Commission. Concrete proposals for the establishment of this committee will be made in the second half of 1996. Ministers also briefly discussed the issue of Euro-Mediterranean Energy Cooperation and it was agreed that a first ministerial "Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Energy" be held before the end of the first half of 1996. With regard to the proposed Directive concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (COM(91) 548), the Italian Presidency stressed the need for final agreement to be reached. The Presidency presented a number of "technical improvements and adaptations" to the compromise proposed last year by the Spanish Presidency. These ideas will be presented in greater detail at the meeting of the High Level Group on Energy. The Commission took note of the suggestions made and undertook to study these further prior to the formal meeting of the Energy Council on 7 May 1996.