World
  |
|
Common energy policy a 'priority' for EU: Barroso
AFP
VILNIUS
Petroleumworld.com 03 30 07
A common energy policy is high on the EU's list of priorities, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday told lawmakers in new EU member state Lithuania.
"Three years ago, we didn't talk about energy policy and today it is a priority for the entire EU," he said in a speech to the Lithuanian parliament. "There is a consensus for the need to develop a European energy policy."
Lithuania and its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia have launched several projects to try to reduce their dependence on Russia and build energy ties with fellow EU member states.
The three states and Poland are in the early stages of building a nuclear power station in eastern Lithuania. Estonia late last year inaugurated an undersea electricity cable linking it with Finland, and Poland and Lithuania have signed a deal to link their power grids.
The Baltic states are still linked to the Russian electricity grid, as they were during Soviet rule, which lasted from the end of World War II until 1991, and also rely heavily on Russia for supplies of natural gas and oil.
"The Commission has been following developments in the energy field in Lithuania," Barroso said.
He cited incidents that have disrupted energy supplies Lithuania, such as "the interruption of oil supplies," or raised concern here, such as "the deal on the (German-Russian Baltic Sea) pipeline."
Last year, Russia cut off the flow of crude oil through the Druzhba-1 pipeline, which feeds Russian oil to Lithuania's Mazeikiu oil refinery, saying the Soviet-era pipe had ruptured.
The halt in oil supplies came just weeks after Polish oil group PKN Orlen sealed a deal with Russian oil group Yukos to buy the Mazeikiu complex, apparently to the annoyance of Moscow which wanted the Baltic oil facility to be sold to a Russian company.
And in 2005, Russian and German companies inked a deal, with the nod from their governments, to lay a pipeline along the floor of the Baltic Sea -- bypassing the Baltic states and Poland -- to carry gas from Russia to Germany.
The deal has not only angered Lithuania and its neighbours, who stand to lose out on potentially lucrative transit fees, but has also raised concerns for the fragile environment of the Baltic Sea.
"I can assure you that the Commission is continuing to press for engagement from Russia in a positive, long-term relationship, particularly for energy," Barroso said.
EU and Russian leaders are due to hold a summit meeting on May 18 in the Russian city of Samara.EU Commissioner for energy Andris Piebalgs earlier this month promised to discuss the reopening of the Druzhba-1 pipeline at the meeting.
AFP 29 1705 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels