Consultation on EU 2030 energy and climate targets begins

• 11 years ago (2013-03-28)
• Junior Isles

Europe 1089 North America 1021

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Against the backdrop of the start of negotiations on the EU’s 2030 energy and climate targets, Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy, has said there should be no new energy taxes or tax rises within the EU in order to maintain competitiveness with rivals fuelled by cheap US shale gas.

Oettinger also stated that Europe's industry must strive to be more efficient, and energy markets further liberalised, if the EU is to keep pace with US industry.

"To compete we must have a functioning internal market for electricity, with more competition (among energy suppliers)," he said. "Energy efficiency is very important – we must consume less. And no new taxes on energy, and no higher taxes on energy, to get to a suitable price for energy consumers (including energy-intensive businesses)."

Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate change, has also stated that shale gas could not be relied upon in Europe to be the ‘game-changer’ that it has been in the US.

"We should not fool ourselves," she said. "This is not going to be as cheap as in the US. We have different geology that makes it more tricky [to extract shale gas]. We don't have the same wide open spaces. We pay more attention to what local people think."

She claims that the EU needed to place far more emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable generation, with the EU's current renewables target of 20 per cent of energy generation set to expire in 2020, along with the separate target of cutting emissions by 20 per cent by the same date.

"The US is becoming self-reliant on energy, but we are going in the opposite direction – from 60 per cent imports to 80 per cent by 2035, on business as usual, according to the International Energy Agency. We need to do more on renewables."

She views a higher renewables target for 2030 as vital for energy security and economic growth.