07/12/2009The EPP family has a leading role to play in the creation of the architecture of the common foreign policy on energy. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP
Speaking after the first meeting of EPP Energy Ministers today in Brussels, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP, Head of the Polish Delegation of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, said: "The EPP family has a leading role to play in the creation of the architecture of the common foreign policy on energy. Today's meeting was a crucial step towards bringing our interests and priorities together and speaking with one voice in the Council."Mr Saryusz-Wolski, who is also Vice-President of the EPP Party, has been appointed to coordinate the working group's meetings by EPP Party President Wilfred Martens.
The EPP Energy Ministers Meeting (EMM) has been conceived as a platform not only for an exchange of views, but for veritable policy coordination between Ministers of the EPP political family in one of the most crucial policy domains - energy.
Energy Ministers' meetings constitute a valuable opportunity to prepare for the EU Council energy meetings. As the EMM's agenda reflects that of the Council, today's meeting was mostly devoted to the proposal for a Regulation on the security of gas supply. The same debate was on the Council's agenda today. In light of the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute of January 2009, which revealed the EU's energy vulnerability, the Regulation concerning measures safeguarding the security of gas supply is of vital importance to the overall security of the European Union. The crisis proved that the mechanisms of crisis response embedded in Directive 2004/67/WE, currently in force, are insufficient.
The proposal for the new Regulation, repealing the Directive, is being discussed both in Council and Parliament (under the co-decision procedure). In the EP, a Report by Alejo Vidal-Quadras MEP (EPP, Spain) was presented last week in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE). The Report states that the EU should have indispensible instruments to foresee possible disruptions in the gas supply of energy and to react immediately in crisis situations.
Four other committees have prepared their Opinions on the Report, i.e. the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) where Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP is the Rapporteur, the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI), where the Rapporteur is Bogusław Sonik MEP (EPP, Poland), the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO), where the Rapporteur is Sandra Kalniete MEP (EPP, Latvia) and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), where the Shadow Rapporteur is Markus Ferber MEP (EPP, Germany).
The vote on the Opinion of the IMCO Committee already took place last week (2 December 2009). The vote went through with a large majority - 35 in favour of the Opinion and 2 against. The remaining Opinions will be voted in the committees in January 2010. The vote on the Report is scheduled for the plenary session in March 2010.
The EPP Group is of the view that energy security must be regarded as an essential component of the overall security of the EU. The Parliament is doing its utmost to enhance the solidarity mechanism and to give new impetus to the common foreign policy on energy and enhance its solidarity spirit as stipulated in the Lisbon Treaty. Already at this stage of the legislative process, the EP presents an ambitious stance with a strong focus on the community method in the domain of gas crisis prevention and management of emergency situations. The ITRE draft Report, as well as the AFET and ENVI draft Opinions, call on establishing preventive and emergency plans at regional and Community levels. The AFET Opinion enhances the geopolitical dimension of the Regulation that is almost absent from the Commission's proposal, especially the need to put emphasis on the legal basis for the solidarity mechanism provided by the Treaty on the functioning of the EU as amended by Lisbon (Art. 194).
For further information:
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845371
Joanna Bekker, EPP Group Press Service, Tel: +32-476-943388
Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 265 Members.
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