A United Europe has several cards to play

And if energy offered Europe a unhoped-for chance to relaunch The text adopted today by the European Commission is a plea for a genuine common energy policy. His ambitions were certainly cropped at the last arbitration, but it gives to the twenty-seven reasons to abandon their logical national, nationalistic, and puts in their responsibilities, in an area where the European Union (EU) faces three major challenges.

In the first place, the security of supply. Today, Europe buys half of its energy beyond its borders. This dependence should exceed 65 in 2030, with a rate of 84 for gas and 93 for oil. The Russian-Ukrainian dispute in January 2006 and Vandoren skirmishes this year shed a cruel day the fragility of Europe, which is important Russia one-quarter of its gas. In this context, one of the Germany rider, who will, with the pipeline under the bottom of the Baltic Sea, bypassing the Baltic countries and the Poland, causes many ulcers, from Tallinn to Warsaw. Who can deny that a United Europe would be able to obtain the supply conditions more favourable than each of its members, albeit the most powerful Or that the reflection on investments pipeline, terminal port for liquefied gas, interconnector cannot engage in an optimal manner at European level

Second issue: the competitiveness of European companies. They have so far assumed the increase in their energy bills without case sensitive, but are beginning to complain. If prices have not fallen despite the "liberalisation" of the sector, it is also because Member States have not played the game. They have misapplied the guidelines that they had voted, or have transposed them a minimum. Governments have sought to strengthen their national champions over cross-border transactions. As soon as the Italian Enel has expressed interest in Suez, Paris rushed to engaged the prey to SFM. With the success we know. Madrid has been to prevent the German E.ON save Endesa from the claws of Gas Natural, which had the Zapatero government. The Commission has ardently defended the freedom of movement of capital, but the Spain has used all possible delaying measures prior to admit defeated.

Understand the Madrid reservations, it is true, when we remember that E.Must be its strength to the interventionism of Berlin. If the Bundeskartellamt, which examines mergers German, had opposed originally veto the E merger.IT with Ruhrgas, the approximation was eventually to be early 2003 under pressure from the Government. Brussels did not say because the transaction was not Community dimension.

Protectionist reflexes have perpetuated the fragmentation of the European market. Twenty-seven national markets are insufficiently connected, hence increased risk failure on a large scale. New entrants must the most often merely marginal market share. Historical operators, sitting on their pension situation, developed suspicious business practices, on the border of legality. The Directorate for competition must today, denounce serious abuse. How doubt that companies and individuals have everything to gain from a single market for energy Of course, make sure that the same rules apply to all. Where the need to strengthen the powers of national regulators, or even to create a European, independent supervisory authority, for flush out distortions of competition. A need that is also felt in other sectors: telecommunications.

Third challenge: climate change. The report Stern, written not by a fanatical environmentalist but by a former Chief Economist of the World Bank, predicted an economic crisis world, deeper than the great depression of 1929, if nothing is done to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The fourth report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on climate change), expected by the end of the month, should confirm, refining, dark the previous forecasts. A United Europe has several cards to play. It can improve and develop its emissions trading system implemented in 2005, and then extend it to other parts of the world. It could invest more in renewable energies, both to increase performance and reduce costs. At present, some promising processes take not off lack of economies of scale. By putting its researchers network, the EU can expect to take a technological advance to export more and thus create jobs.

Twenty-seven have even less excuses to ignore these tracks that European citizens express a strong expectation. According to a November 2005 poll, 47 of Europeans (52 of the 15-39 years) believe that energy decisions must be taken at European level, against 37 percent who prefer the national level. At a time where Euroskepticism runs and where European identity dissolves with the enlargements, the areas where Europeans feel the legitimate Union are not so many. If Member States persist in refusing a collective game, Europe will no longer have that hope, to advance again, the hypothetical outcome, the earlier end of 2008, a new institutional site, which is not even launched.