Concrete and detailed plans for EEU will be discussed by the European Council on 23–24 October. These plans are built on the triple approach of energy, green growth and climate change. We think that the combined forces of Juncker and Tusk guarantee that this triple approach will become the cornerstone of the nascent EEU.”
On July 15, Juncker published a list of ten policy areas on which he proposes to focus the agenda of the next Commission. Climate and energy is the third of these ten. Juncker writes that it is his ambition to accomplish “a resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy.” He lists a number of energy issues to be addressed, but also emphasizes the need to strengthen the share of renewable energies.
Juncker sees two sides to this coin: renewable energy is a matter of responsible climate change policy but also an industrial policy imperative, at least if we want to have affordable energy in the medium term. For this reason he “strongly believes in the potential of green growth.” He even wants “Europe’s Energy Union to become the world number one in renewable energies.”
With respect to climate change too Juncker is ambitious: “I want the European Union to lead the fight against global warming ahead of the United Nations Paris meeting in 2015 and beyond, in line with the objective of limiting any temperature increase to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.” But for us the significance of Juncker’s position is not just his strong stance on climate change, or on green growth, or on energy. Juncker capitalizes on the interconnections of these three issues forging EEU.
The ideas of Donald Tusk about EEU originated separately from those of Juncker, but are not less strong. Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland since 2007, a couple of months ago (April 2013) wrote an oped for the Financial Times in which he proposes to create an Energy Union aimed at reducing Russia’s dominance over European energy markets. Tusk formulates six principles on which such an enterprise should be based. Given Poland’s extreme dependence on Russian gas, it is not strange that these six principles are primarily related to energy security. As these six principles are now, almost one on one, part of Juncker’s agenda, Tusk and Juncker will join their considerable forces to create EEU.
At the same time, Tusk wants to speed up the exploration and exploitation of shale gas in Poland, which has the largest reserves of shale gas in Europe. Doing so, the use of coal and CO2 emissions can be reduced—the American way. Greener and more affordable energy will also improve the competiveness of Europe. For Tusk, EEU should walk on two legs: renewable energy wherever feasible; more shale gas and less coal.
Tusk, by the way, is not the first prominent Polish politician to point out the need for a European Energy Union. Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland (1997–2001) and former President of the European Parliament (2009–2012), together with Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission (1985–1995), on 5 May 2010 issued a joint declaration calling for the creation of a new European Energy Community aimed at giving Europe a stronger, deeper, common energy policy.
Obviously the idea of a special responsibility of the European Union for energy and climate has been around for some time. At last, there will be a European Energy Union. We think the European Council on October 23–24 should endorse the ideas of Buzek, Delors, Tusk, Juncker and others, and give EEU a threefold mandate for energy, green growth and climate change.
After the Plan Van Rompuy to overcome the eurocrisis, we now need a Plan Juncker–Tusk; a new Marshall Plan for jobs in Europe by green growth and energy security!
Paul van Seters is a professor at Tilburg University and Ruud Lubbers is a former Dutch prime minister.
Post published in: News