Spring summit must give Green light for the internal market in energy

2.38.17pm GMT Wed 14th Feb 2007

The European Parliament votes today in Strasbourg on its resolution on progress on the Lisbon Agenda. The document provides input for the European Council's resolution at the EU spring summit on 8-9 March. As a co-rapporteur for the resolution Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP/Germany) promoted in particular the strengthening of the European Energy policy:

"The tide is high to create a functioning internal market for energy. The most urgent task for the heads of government on this spring summit is to achieve real results. This will be the benchmark for success or failure of the summit for us Liberals. It has to be clear for all that they have to take leave of the sweet poison of national protectionism. Europe will only be competitive, if we achieve a functioning internal market in energy."

Lambsdorff prompted the governments of the member states to implement the unbundling of production and repartition in the markets for electricity and gas, in order to abolish the failure of these markets during the last decades. Moreover he supported the targets of the European Commission in the fields of Climate change, renewable energies and energy efficiency. A main focus of European policy, Lambsdorff added, should be put on energy research in which Europe is leading - a lead that should be tightened and expanded.

In the same debate, Graham Watson (ALDE group leader) drew attention to the global comparative-ness of the Lisbon process: "In the light of 2006 figures showing EU economic growth reaching 2.7%, the highest in 6 years, whilst China has been growing at 9% or more for several years, it is time to consider whether the goals of the Lisbon process are not only too ambitious but unrealistic. We have already dropped the target date of 2010 but are we still able to keep the target?"

"The pursuit of a competitive economy is an important goal but it is only the means to an end rather than an end in itself. For Liberals and Democrats, a competitive economy is the vehicle for providing for our welfare state - creating new jobs and wealth, financing social security and health care and providing for training in new skills for the workforce of the future", Watson added.