Energy community

After two and a half years at the lead of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, elected EP president in July 2009, is preparing to leave his office. In fact, according to procedures, all the Assembly’s high-ranking posts are renewed half-way through the European Parliament’s term of office.A reference to Schuman. During the EP session of January 16-19 the Polish MEP, academic, Solidarnosc activist and premier in Warsaw will hand over the reins to his successor. There will be time to delve into the highlights of his political career, but an important aspect should be underlined, a “leading thread” that marks Buzek’s biography, which refers to an item on the agenda of the community integration process: namely, the European Energy Community, proposed on several occasions by Buzek himself, formalized with Jacques Delors, unforgettable president of the European Commission, on May 5, 2010. In the heading of the document signed by the two politicians there is a quotation from the Schuman Declaration of May 5 1950, which gave the symbolical kick-off to the “common home” process: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan; it will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity”.Alternative sources. Solidarity – between states and European populations alike – is one of causes that innervated the cultural and political action of the outgoing president, who dedicated his life to research (he authored 200 publications and holds three EU energy patents), to the fight on the Communist dictatorship, to social and political life in his home country and later at European level. Jerzy Buzek and Jacques Delors claimed in their document: “Almost sixty years ago, six European states created the European Coal and Steel Community. Their purpose was to replace conflict with cooperation, and antagonism with prosperity. Today, energy is still on the political and economic agenda, but the rules that ensured equal access to common resources no longer exist”. In this new phase “Europe faces several major crises – in the field of energy, environment, and above all the economy – which call for new priorities and reduce the available options. These challenges also offer us opportunities. The development of sustainable and affordable alternative energy sources is the key to a new industrial revolution that will contribute to Europe’s emergence from the economic crisis”.EU commitments. The proposal by Buzek and Delors was widely acknowledged, in academic environments, by scientific researchers, in political seats. A lot of progress has been made since: the EU has assumed exacting goals, in the area of the reduction of energy consumption, energy waste, and by promoting the use of renewable sources, while meeting the challenge of adopting an authentic, shared energy policy as relates to supplies, infrastructure and technological innovation. “But much still needs to be done”, underlined the two “Europeanists”. “To meet these challenges, we need a radical shift in the way we produce and consume energy. We believe that Europe needs a stronger, deeper, common energy policy. An energy policy which guarantees access to energy at reasonable and stable prices, which maintains our industrial competitiveness, and which promotes sustainable development and the transition to a low-carbon society”.Enhanced cooperation. Without doubt, upon the conclusion of his mandate as President, Buzek will resume his commitment in the major Energy Community project. In fact, in his view, “existing policies – to liberalise energy supply, improve energy interconnection and protect the environment – have been successful and continue to have an important role to play, but they are not enough”. “More ambitious goals and deeper integration” are needed as well as “deeper integration”. In the statement jointly signed with the ex-president of the EU Commission, Buzek claimed: “We believe that the next chapter in the history of European integration has to involve the creation of a European Energy Community, a new EEC”. “Major strides in the European project can and, if necessary, should be made by an initial core group of dedicated Member States – states which can use enhanced cooperation to move forward”. The two signatories presented operational proposals on the single market, energy networks, underlining the diversification of energy mix. “In the long term, if we are faced with a major energy crisis, common strategic reserves must be available, and managed throughout the continent in a spirit of solidarity”.