European Union News - Energy

As part of the implementation of directives and regulations to regulate the market for electricity and gas in Europe, the Commission has prepared a report which highlights the progress that has been performed in this field in recent years, and warns of gaps in the transposition of standards into national legislation of some Member States and the need of continue investing in infrastructure.

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union, Regulation (EC) Nº 193/2009 and Regulation (EC) Nº 194/2009 imposing respectively, a provisional anti-dumping duty and a provisional countervailing duty, on imports of biodiesel originating in the United States of America. This decisions close the anti-dumping and  anti-subsidy proceedings, initiated by the European Commission on June 2008.

This Recommendation describes the reference characteristics of an operator’s Nuclear Material Accountancy and Control system complying with the legal obligations of Regulation (Euratom) Nº 302/2005. Some of the characteristics described in this Recommendation are therefore only relevant to facilities with corresponding activities and not to those facilities which involve no measurement.

The European Parliament adopted in its Plenary Session on January 3rd, a report in which MEPs call call for mandatory emergency action plans in case of gas supply shortages, more grid interconnections among Member States, a specific road map for investments in nuclear energy, and new climate targets to be achieved by 2050, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80%. These wide-ranging recommendations would make up the EU's future energy policy.

A test platform for a remote handling system essential to the future functioning of the ITER fusion reactor has been officially inaugurated in Tampere, Finland. The full-size test facility DTP2 (Divertor Test Platform for ITER) is said to be a significant step forward both for the international ITER project and for nuclear fusion research in general.

The Communication from the Commission provides concrete proposals how to reach an agreement at the Copenhagen summit. It addresses three key challenges of the new international agreement – targets and actions, financing low carbon development and building an effective global carbon market.

The Council adopted on January, 12th 2009, the common positions and the statements on the package of legislative measures concerning the internal energy market, aiming to supplement the existing rules to ensure that the internal market operates smoothly for all consumers and to enable the EU to achieve a more secure, competitive and sustainable energy supply.

Due to the situation caused by the interruption of gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine, an extraordinary meeting of the Energy Council took place in Brussels on January, 12th 2009, under the Presidency of the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade. At this meeting EU Ministers welcomed the steps taken by  Czech Presidency to tackle the crisis.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra introduced the main priorities  and the work program of the Czech Presidency, in a ceremony held in Prague on January, 6th. Three key priorities will be in focus for this period, which will be identified by “the three E's”: Economy, Energy and Europe in the world. The motto is a ‘Europe without barriers’.

Notice has been given in the Official Journal of the European Union on January, 6th, 2009, on the launch of a call for proposals under the “2009 Cooperation” work programme of the 7th EC Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. This calls aims to fund coordinated reserach projects between European and Brazilian teams.

First negotiation rounds between the Commission and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova for their accession to the Energy Community Treaty, were successfully held in Vienna on November, 25th and 26th, 2008. Both countries demonstrated their strong willingness to join the Energy Community, to prepare for the implementation of the related EU legislation and to pursue the necessary reforms of their energy markets.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA), has published in the Official Journal of the European Union, on November 1st, its Special Report n° 7/2008 concerning the Intelligent Energy Programme, 2003-2006.