Big Energy Names Step In To Support Coordination of National Policies
Big energy sector players stepped in on Wednesday to call on countries and European authorities to support the coordination of national policies and join forces to promote higher integration.
On Tuesday, the CEOs of GDF Suez, Iberdrola, CEZ and GasTerra held a meeting with representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to present the point of view of the Magritte’s Group - an initiative launched in May 2013 by a group of leading European energy companies.
‘Considerable room is currently being left for short-term national approaches, which only serve to widen differences between markets… By joining forces now, there is an opportunity to implement Europe-wide solutions for efficient climate protection, security of supply and fair energy prices’ reads a note released by GDF Suez on Tuesday, advocating the need of a far-reaching global agreement at this year’s international climate summit in Paris and a commercially-viable strategy for gas.
The group said that commercial relations with energy suppliers should remain a company’s own responsibility, and that commercially sensitive information in gas supply contracts should remain confidential.
Similarly, on Thursday, sector association Eurelectric remarked that coordinate national laws would make it easier to reach decarbonisation objectives.
‘Regional cooperation, coordination and solidarity are at the core of the Energy Union, and the governance system should support those principles. Policies that are properly coordinated and assessed in cooperation with other member states contribute to market integration and minimise market distortions across the EU’ reads a note released by Eurelectric.
Despite the tone, some frictions recently emerged in Europe.
While Energy Charter Secretariat was organising its joint meeting with the Government of Turkmenistan, Italy communicated it had left the Energy Charter Treaty from January 2016. According to National Law Review, the provisions of the Treaty will continue to apply to investments made in Italy till the end of 2015 for a period of further 20 years.