Enhancing Europe’s energy security through greater use of liquefied natural gas
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting
on behalf of the Assembly, on 12 November 2010 (see Doc. 12424, report
of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, rapporteur:
Mr Melčák; and Doc. 12425,
opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local
and Regional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Ünal).
- Thesaurus
1 Energy security is a crucial condition
for the smooth functioning of statesand
an essential factorin the competitiveness
of European economies in the context of globalisation. It is an
ongoing concern across all Europe as a series of recent gas crises
and other incidents have demonstrated. The Parliamentary Assembly believes
that achieving optimal levels of energy security in the Council
of Europe member states is an ambitious economic task and a compelling
reason for closer political co-operation.
2 Seeking to develop a common understanding of energy security
risks and possible policy responses in greater Europe, the Assembly
has repeatedly insisted on the importance of the diversification
of energy sources, technologies and supply routes, in addition to
the need for energy savings, sound investment choices and better
co-ordinated energy policies across Europe. The Assembly is convinced
that, despite current economic hardships, policy makers must remain
focused on the strategic aim of sustainable long-term development
underpinned by sufficient, affordable, accessible and clean energy,
as well as a certain degree of cross-border solidarity and co-operation
in the energy sector.
3 Although European countries employ a wide range of energy
resources for serving their economies and households, most of them
rely overwhelmingly on imported oil and gas. Moreover, many countries
of central and eastern Europe depend on oil and gas imports from
a single supplier and limited transport routes, which renders them
particularly vulnerable to supply shocks, with direct economic,
political and social consequences.
4 The security of future supplies of natural gas as one of the
most important energy sources can be better secured by expanding
the use of underexploited options such as liquefied natural gas
(LNG). The Assembly notes that efforts aimed at developing LNG in
Europe can make a significant contribution to enhanced national energy
security, especially in central and eastern Europe. LNG systems
could not only serve as a complementary element in case of unexpected
failures of conventional energy supply structures, but also as a strategic
part of the European energy system.
5 Making more extensive use of LNG systems would enable European
countries to take full advantage of the rapidly growing global natural
gas market, to make substantial long-term savings on their energy
bill and to optimise storage and back-up capacities to compensate
for shortages at peak times or in order to minimise disruptions
in energy supplies in general. Moreover, countries with well-developed
river and canal networks could envisage the development of LNG transportation
to end users via inland waterways, thus creating a virtual pipeline
network that avoids traffic congestion and permits LNG shipments
to locations where geographic, demographic or environmental specificities
do not justify laying down traditional pipelines.
6 In this context, the Assembly recalls that Europe has an extensive
network of inland waterways that offer a comparatively cheap, efficient,
clean and reliable mode of transport. As it stressed in its
Resolution 1473 (2005) on
European waterways: focus on the Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal project,
this network offers a strong, but largely untapped, potential for
development, such as through the Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal project.
With a view to fostering regional economic co-operation, multimodal
transport links and LNG use, European countries should pay greater
attention to the integrated management of their waterways and energy
systems.
7 The Assembly welcomes the €4 billion energy infrastructure
investment plan adopted by the European Union in 2009, the European
Union’s Energy Security and Solidarity Action Plan, and the Strategic
Energy Technology Plan together with the 7th Framework Programme
for Research and Technological Development for the 2007-2013 period,
which could serve, among other things, to support the development
of LNG facilities in the new European Union member states and candidate
countries.
8 The Assembly therefore asks the Council of Europe member states
to:
8.1 study current and future
vulnerabilities in their energy use at national level with a view
to putting in place adequate safety measures for coping with emergencies
and making structural improvements towards further diversification
and more effective use of their energy supplies;
8.2 initiate regional co-operation schemes for co-ordinated
development of their LNG infrastructure and cross-border transport
networks;
8.3 accelerate the preparatory works aiming at implementation
of the Danube-Oder-Elbe waterway connection;
8.4 launch an international feasibility study on the development
of an LNG transport network using the Danube River Basin;
8.5 work on the integrated management of their waterways and
energy systems;
8.6 ensure that the additional burden placed on European transport
routes (waterways, etc.) by the increase in traffic generated by
transporting LNG does not have adverse effects on the environment
that would ultimately be liable to counter the strategic advantages
that were initially sought;
8.7 ensure that increased use of liquid natural gas would
not result in an overall increase in the use of fossil fuels;
8.8 seize existing investment opportunities in the field of
LNG infrastructure and technologies presented by the European Union’s
2009 energy infrastructure investment plan, Energy Security and Solidarity
Action Plan, and Strategic Energy Technology Plan;
8.9 review the feasibility of creating an independent operator
of a European transmission system in the framework of the European
Union’s third liberalisation package for gas and electricity markets.
9 The Assembly decides to consider the issue of energy security
in Europe in the light of environmental protection.
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