Europe - [04/28/2009]

The future of the European Union energy policy. European Breakfast with Andris Piebalgs Comissioner for Energy, European Commission

Three days after the European Parliament approved the new regulations aimed at definitively promoting a real domestic energy market, virtually without making any changes to the Commission's proposal, Andris Piebalgs, the proposal's main champion, arrived in Barcelona to give an informal talk to leading representatives of Barcelona's civil society at the European Breakfast organised by the CIDOB Foundation and the Consell Català del Moviment Europeu.

He arrived with a smile on his face, and spoke without recourse to any notes or documents, with all the figures recorded in his memory, as light of baggage as the post he holds – because in spite of its impact, Energy is one of the few powers and responsibilities that are still exclusive to the different States. This 51-year-old politician, who was Minister of Education in his home country of Latvia and who is one of the most high-profile commissioners in media terms (perhaps because crises – such as the one last winter when Russia cut off its gas supply to the Ukraine – make excellent backdrops), deployed all of his pedagogic skills to reflect on the geopolitical, economic and social implications of the subject of energy.

Much of the debate on external action revolved around Russia and the different perceptions that the European family have of the country, owing to its prominence in the supply of hydrocarbons – perceptions that range from that of threat to strategic alliance. However, Europe is also looking to other latitudes in search of that much-desired diversification of sources sought by the Commission's proposal launched last November (Second Strategic Energy Review). North Africa, the Caspian and Latin America are the focal points of geopolitical interest that have also drawn the attention of the large emerging economies (China and India) to a terrain on which the future of global energy governance is still being constructed; one in which producer, consumer and transit countries will all participate in conditions of equality. Meanwhile, there is another even vaguer future: the only international convention of importance (Energy Charter) promoted by the EU, and which was initially designed to integrate the economies of the ex-Soviet Union into the European market, has still not been ratified by Russia (following Moscow's objections to third countries achieving access to its gas pipeline network), nor has it been ratified by any major producer – no OPEC members, or Norway.

This is why the EU should strengthen its capacity for manoeuvre in terms of its external action, an area in which the passing of the Lisbon Treaty (which the most optimistic commentators believe will take place next autumn) will be decisive, as it will provide a legal basis and instruments for a common energy policy. Nevertheless, the role that nuclear energy can play in Europe's future will depend to a great extent on the choices made by the different countries, a result of the uneven sensitivities of their societies, which cover the entire gamut of political colours – from the antinuclear green of the Austrians to the atomic yellow of the French.