European Conference on Local and Regional Energy Management Agencies, Brussels 2001

Background information on the Conference

Further information about Directorate-General for Energy & Transports

It is proposed that the first annual Conference on European energy management agencies will be followed by similar annual events in order to allow discussion on recent policy and market changes, stock-taking of achievements and decisions on future action. These annual conferences of all European energy management agencies would replace the past annual conferences of local and regional SAVE energy management agencies.

Additionally to the general annual events, the Conference aims at initiating a series of smaller thematic and more technically oriented seminars for transfer of expertise (good practice). The seminars will involve local and regional energy management agencies (SAVE and non-SAVE) in the EU, EEA and in the CEECs and will facilitate the transfer of expertise within certain thematic fields from ‘agencies of excellence’ to those energy management agencies that need or can use the information. When beneficial for the mandate of local and regional energy agencies, good practice will be derived from other appropriate sources as well (particularly from pilot actions and studies but also from networks, industry, associations, municipalities etc) and be disseminated to other actors also, such as local and regional decision-makers in areas, where no local or regional energy management agencies exist.

The seminars will aim to analyse the underlying conditions for success in the cases at hand and assess the potential for replication elsewhere in Europe, including Candidate Countries for accession to the EU. On the basis of the analysis, the seminars will seek to identify market needs and target groups for dissemination. This process will be facilitated and supported by the use of Internet based communication tools including a web site, database on good practice and discussion groups. In order to assist the Commission services, an invitation to tender, no. TREN/D3/10-2001, has been published in the Official Journal of the Communities on 19 June 2001 (S115) in a call for support services.

The annual events will help toreinforce the link between the European Union energy policy priorities and the implementation of the policies at local and regional level through improved dialogue between actors at different levels. The thematic seminars will contribute to a more efficient use of limited programme resources through replication and the further use of good practice from various energy and transport actors.

Along with agriculture, competition and foreign trade, transport was one of the first common policies of the Community. Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Rome in 1958, this policy has concentrated on the objective of eliminating the obstacles at the borders between the Member States and thus contributing to the free movement of persons and goods.

The energy policy also goes back to the origins of European integration with the ECSC Treaty for the coal and steel sector and Euratom for nuclear safety and civil protection. Although the energy policy underwent further developments following the two "oil crises" 1973 and 1979, it was however only in the 1990s, with the achievement of the internal market, that both energy and indeed transport made significant political progress at Community level.

Since 1999, Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President of the European Commission, has been responsible for energy and transport policies.

The Directorate-General for Energy and Transport has been operational since 1 January 2000 and was the result of the merger of the Directorates-General for Transport and for Energy (see organigramme for details).

Its Director-General is François Lamoureux and it has a staff of 1 000 people. The Directorate-General employs 700 people in Brussels, divided between seven Directorates and the Euratom Supply Agency. The Euratom Safeguards Directorate, recently associated with the Directorate-General, is located in Luxembourg and has almost 300 employees. In addition to developing the Community policies in these sectors, including handling State aid, it manages financial support programmes based on the trans-European networks, technological development and innovation, which is expected to total € 850 million per year for the period 2000-2006.

The measures implemented by the Directorate-General complement each other closely:

• Generally, energy and transport are at the heart of our modern societies. They are an essential element of citizens’ way of life and an important factor for the competitiveness of our economies and employment.

• Energy and transport are included within the key objective of creating an internal market. By pursuing the aim of opening up markets, the European Union aims to guarantee effective, high-quality and affordable energy and transport services.

• Sustainable development is another guiding principle for transport and energy, particularly if we look to the fact that 94% of the Green House Gas emissions generated by human activity come from the energy sector and that transport is responsible for 90% of the CO₂ increases at a time when the Union must take the measures required to implement the Kyoto Protocol.

• Ever-increasing congestion, a series of accidents and the energy supply crises have clearly highlighted another issue: safety and security. The risk of an interruption in supply has become a key issue within the energy supply and mobility systems. For example: if no measures are taken, external oil energy dependence will account for around 90% in 2030, compared to 70% already at the moment. Also, the 800 million tonnes of hydrocarbons transported in European waters each year represent a permanent threat in light of a global accident risk estimated at an average of one shipwreck every three days; or the lack of safety on the roads which causes 41 000 deaths in the Union each year.

These topics are at the centre of the new policy guidelines adopted by the European Commission in the two reference documents, the Green Paper entitled "Towards a European Strategy for the Security of Energy Supply", published in November 2000, and the White Paper entitled "The European Transport Policy to 2010: The Time for Choices" (to be published shortly).

These two documents open the way for new ambitions for European energy and transport policy. Its main objectives are:

1. To complete the internal market for energy and transport.

• Accompany the opening of the markets with the introduction of new forms of regulation in order to ensure the creation of a single European market and the requirements relating to the quality and safety of supplies.

• In sectors such as the rail industry, port services, gas and electricity, the efforts already made in this direction should be actively pursued.

2. To ensure the sustainable development of transport and energy.

• Seek a better balance within our transport system by encouraging the least polluting means and solutions together with energy-efficient technologies, as well as ensuring that intermodality becomes a reality.

• Put users at the heart of a more effective transport system and public transport services, particularly in the cities, by enhancing users' rights.

• Take concrete measures to control energy needs (energy efficiency, bio-fuels, etc.); active promotion of renewable energy and increased research, including in the nuclear field.

3. To manage space and extend the major networks in Europe.

• A revision of the guidelines on the trans-European transport and energy networks is necessary by giving priority to financing the elimination of bottlenecks, the development of the rail sector and connecting the major trans-European networks to the structures being set up in the applicant countries.

• Develop, at European level, a new approach to pricing in relation to external costs and the construction of major infrastructures.

• Develop intelligent networks for air traffic management in order to optimise mobility.

• Create a "single sky" with a view to reforming air traffic management and relieving congestion in the European skies.

• Develop the European satellite navigation programme, GALILEO, which will constitute a vital tool in ensuring independent management in Europe of flows of goods, people and information.

4. To improve safety.

• Improve safety in Europe through the creation of European agencies, in particular in the air, maritime and rail sectors.

• Adopt and implement the measures proposed in the Erika I and Erika II packages to ensure a substantial improvement in maritime safety.

• Make use of technology and expertise in the field of safety at a European scale.

• Ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear material and its peaceful use by authorising supply contracts and controlling stocks and nuclear fuel movements.

5. To achieve enlargement.

• Verify and support the transposition of the 'acquis communautaire' in the field of transport and energy by the applicant countries.

• Highlight the importance of safety aspects, social standards, infrastructure development and the safety of nuclear facilities.

6. To develop concrete international cooperation and strengthen the position of the European Union on the global scene.

• Develop dialogue and cooperation with major global energy actors. The building of a strategic partnership with Russia is a priority in this respect.

• Take the initiatives required to ensure the interconnection of the transport and energy networks with our Mediterranean neighbours and to ensure safe maritime transport in this area.

• Maintain the competitiveness of the European air transport industry; negotiate a framework for transatlantic relations in the field of civil aviation.

• Provide the European Union with the means necessary to speak with a single voice and strengthen its positions in multilateral bodies such as the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.