EU energy package fails to impress MEPs

The European commission’s proposals to tackle global warming have received a mixed reaction by MEPs.

Finnish Green and environment committee deputy chair Satu Hassi said “The proposals betray the future generations that will be left with the real legacy of our inaction on climate change.”

“Far from giving leadership on climate change, the commission is proposing that Europe abdicates all ambition on reducing emissions and sets a target of a paltry 20 per cent by 2020 in spite of overwhelming evidence suggesting much greater reductions are necessary.”

Other political groups and parties gave a mixed response to the energy package, with EPP member and conservative industry spokesman Giles Chichester saying he supported “almost every element” in the document.

However, he warned more support for nuclear energy will be needed.

”The glaring omission in the package is the inadequate promotion of the role of nuclear energy in achieving these objectives,” he said.

The left-wing group PES also supports the proposals, with its leader Poul Nyrup Rasmussen declaring, “It is time for Europe to take decisive action now".

"Europe has to be ambitious, with tough concrete targets and clear timetables.”

The Dane, however, said he was disappointed at the commission’s failure to make a concrete proposal for reducing “energy poverty”.

Robert Goebbels, socialist group vice-president in charge of energy proposals, praised the executive's call for a common EU energy policy and described its proposals as "realistic".

However, Eluned Morgan, Labour's energy spokesperson in parliament, was scathing.

"The package is a missed opportunity for Europe to lead the way in tackling the devastating threat posed by climate change," she said.

She said the proposal of a 20 per cent cut in carbon emissions was "simply not enough".

"It is a failure on the commission's part to show leadership at a time when the challenges posed by climate change make it more necessary than ever," she argued.

While generally backing the commission’s energy aims set out in the document, Alde group leader Graham Watson warned.

“The danger is that member states will once more allow national sovereignty and economic nationalism to undermine the collective action that is needed," he said.

“The current pipeline war between Russia and its neighbours is all the evidence we need to persuade us of the need to consume less and seek a more diverse and secure supply of energy.”

Scottish National Party MEP Alyn Smith, the party's Europe spokesman, welcomed the proposals.

"Europe has made some bold proposals for carbon capture and there is significant potential in this," he said.

"The SNP made a submission to the commission on future of energy policy and we are happy to see many of our points included."

Meanwhile, a new policy paper by sustainable development think tank E3G argues that European leaders should make climate change and energy security their “defining mission” in the 21st century.

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