The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

(a) Mr Pierros on the need to adopt a common energy policy

in the Community (B3-1668/90)

(b) Mr Bandrés Molet on the building of a new power

station and industrial port in S'Estalella (Majorca)

(B3-2112/90)

(c) Mr Regge and others on the opening of a free sector

for the production and sale of electricity in the

Community countries (B3-0173/91),

- having regard to the Treaties establishing the European

Communities, including the Single European Act and the

amendments to it agreed by the European Council at

Maastricht on 10 December 1991,

- having regard to the various Commission documents on a

Community energy strategy and policy and the Community's

medium-term objectives in the energy sector,

- having regard to the aim of achieving an internal energy

market by the end of 1992 and to the Commission's

assessment of the obstacles in the way of this objective,

- having regard to the conclusions of the various congresses

of the World Energy Conference, in particular the Congress

held in Montreal in September 1989,

- having regard to the Commission communication on energy and

the environment (1990),

- having regard to the many proposals relating to the ECSC

and Euratom Treaties,

- having regard to the development of Community legislation

on the transparency of prices for industrial end-users of

gas and electricity, investment projects of Community

interest in the sectors of oil, natural gas and

electricity, the transit of electricity and natural gas

through major grids, efficiency in the use of electricity,

derogations from the restriction of the use of natural gas

in power stations, the exploitation of renewable energy

sources, etc.,

- having regard to the programmes in the energy sector

contained in the various framework programmes of research

and technological development, the activities of the Joint

Research Centre and the specific demonstration programmes

relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy

projects, the liquefaction and gasification of solid fuels,

the substitution of hydrocarbons by solid fuels, the RECHAR

programme, etc.,

- having regard to the 1990 legislative programme and the

principles of inter-institutional cooperation adopted

jointly by the European Parliament and the Commission in

April 1990,

- having regard to the Commission's assessments of the

development of the oil sector and the refining industry

(1988) and nuclear industries (1990) in the Community and

the hearings on energy issues organized by the European

Parliament,

- having regard to the objectives of the Conference on the

subject of 'Energy in the 21st century: the European

perspective', held by the Commission in Brussels in May

1990,

- having regard to the Commission communications on a

European Energy Charter (1991) and energy planning in the

EEC (regional) (1991),

- having regard to the final agreement on creating the

European Economic Area,

- having regard to the political commitment made when the

European Energy Charter was signed in The Hague on 17

December 1991,

- having regard to its resolutions of 13 June 1991 on energy

and the environment,, 16 January 1992 on the

integration of the ECSC and EAEC Treaties into the EEC

Treaty, and 16 January 1992 on the amendment of the ECSC

and EAEC Treaties pursuant to Article 96 of the former,

and Article 204 of the latter,

- having regard to the parliamentary reports drawn up in some

Member States, in particular the one considered in the

French Senate on recent developments in Community energy

policy (Rouvière report, on behalf of the Senate delegation

to the European Communities, at the sitting of 18 December

1991),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 January 1992 on the

Commission's annual report on the economic situation in

1991-92, in particular paragraph 24 entitled 'A common

energy policy' in the chapter on 'Strengthening the

Community's competitiveness';

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Energy,

Research and Technology (A3-0094/92),

A. having regard to the clear lack of a common energy policy

(CEP), which is a serious obstacle in the way of

integration,

B. whereas it is of vital importance for the European

Community to be guaranteed a secure energy supply,

C. having regard to the specific characteristics of the energy

sector as regards the rules on competition: its role as a

public service, and the need to rationalize investments and

control markets over a very long term,

D. having regard to the benefits which an internal energy

market would yield,

E. having regard to the general benefit that would result if

Europe were to achieve greater integration of objectives

responding to economic, social and environmental needs in

its CEP,

F. having regard to the valuable contribution which science

and technology can make to the energy sector and to the

need for the Community institutions to play an increasing

role in this field,

G. having regard to the considerable differences in taxation

of energy in the various Member States and the very

different effects to which this gives rise,

H. having regard to the potential for cooperation in the

energy field in the context of the Community's new

relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe,

I. whereas the Community must help to solve the problems

arising from the requirements of world economic and social

development, which is compatible with the need for

environmental protection and the principle of using the

world's resources more evenly,

J. having regard to the need for the Community to assess the

role of nuclear energy in the light of world energy

prospects, risk assessment and safety guarantees, in view

of the accidents which have occurred and still unsolved

problems, all of which shows how important a medium and

long term forecast of energy supply and demand is,

K. having regard to the desirability of promoting, throughout

the Community, moves towards use of technologically mature

renewable energy sources of proven value (e.g., wind power,

biomass, photovoltaic energy and hydrogen),

L. whereas the Commission should step up research and

development in the energy sector in general, as well as

research, development and demonstration projects relating

to new, alternative and renewable energy sources, in order

to promote conversion to these forms of energy,

M. noting that in the Commission document on 'European

Industrial Policy for the 1990s', drawn up on the basis of

COM(90) 556, SEC(91) 565 and SEC (91) 629, data on the

energy requirements for any industrial activity are

conspicuous by their absence,

Within the Community framework

1. Deeply regrets that the revision of the EEC Treaty which

was completed in Maastricht on 10 December 1991 does not

include any principles on which a true common energy policy

(CEP) could be based;

2. Is particularly disappointed that the Intergovernmental

Conference rejected all the Commission's proposals on

energy, which sought to incorporate into the revised Treaty

on Political Union four articles on a common energy policy,

its objectives, the measures needed to achieve it, the kind

of legislation required and other aspects of the

Community's energy sector;

3. Stresses in this context that the reference to energy

policy in Article 3(t) of the text agreed at Maastricht on

10 December 1991 - together with civil protection and

tourism - is a totally unsuitable way to achieve the

economic and social objectives set out in Article 2 of this

draft Treaty, as part of the system of 'bridges' which

transfer powers from the intergovernmental area to the

Community;

4. Repeats its insistence that matters currently governed by

the ECSC and EAEC Treaties should be incorporated into the

EEC Treaty (Political Union), to comply with Article 32 of

the 1965 Treaty establishing a single Council and a single

Commission;

5. Stresses that the CEP must rely not only on the criteria of

efficiency (competition) and adaptation of production to

needs (market) but also on the criteria of independence

(security of supply), knowledge (research into new energy

sources) safety (hazard-free technologies) and durability

(sustainable ecological development);

6. Calls for the measures regulating the internal energy

market to be consolidated, and for continued efforts to be

made to achieve common energy policy in the near future, in

the medium and long-term interests of European consumers,

including the smallest of them;

7. Calls on the Council and the Member States to make

effective use of the principle of subsidiarity and

recognize that there is a substantial Community dimension

to the quest for a secure energy supply under acceptable

economic, social and environmental conditions;

8. Calls also, in the context of energy security, for clear

powers to be conferred on the Commission to take action if

new critical situations arise;

9. Calls for the Community to be given greater powers to

engage in international negotiations through Community

instruments, so as to offset the Community's weakness in

the energy sector;

10. Calls for the Council to try to reach an agreement under

which Community rules will be applied to the energy sector,

taking into account the most significant characteristics of

the sector;

11. Calls in particular for the future CEP to confer on the

Community the power to implement the necessary corrective

mechanisms to encourage the compatible development of

industry, the policy of economic and social cohesion and

protection of the environment;

12. Insists that the commitments made in the environmental

field should be scrupulously respected, particularly the

drastic reduction of carbon dioxide emissions;

13. Calls also for the CEP to focus attention on social

aspects, which can be very important in certain regions and

may require measures to be taken at regional, national and

Community level;

14. Calls for price transparency and stability, priority

attention to satisfying the long-term energy needs of each

country with the aim of ensuring economic and social

development whilst respecting the environment, energy

saving and the promotion of rational energy planning and

management to be included in the strategic objectives of

the CEP;

15. Calls on the Commission, when it assumes such powers, to

step up its information policy in order to counteract the

impression that citizens are far removed from the decision-

making centres;

16. Hopes that this genuine and comprehensive information

policy will have special importance during the forthcoming

Community Energy Year, instigated by the European

Parliament;

17. Calls on the Commission to adopt and submit to Parliament

as soon as possible a proposal for a directive which,

taking account of the Council's positions, contains

rigorous and effective fiscal measures aimed at reducing

carbon dioxide emissions, backed up by consideration of

diverse scenarios;

18. Proposes that the effects of such fiscal measures on the

Community's external competitiveness be studied;

19. Calls also for more harmonized taxation throughout the

Member States as regards all matters relating to energy;

20. Calls on the Commission to step up its support for European

infrastructure networks and, in the field of energy, to

apply the principle of economic and social cohesion to the

less-developed regions,

21. Calls on the Community to step up its scientific and

technological activities in the energy sector and to

support the important work being carried out by the Joint

Research Centre (JRC) in this field;

22. Calls on the Commission to endeavour, without delay, to

step up research and demonstration efforts in the field of

renewable energies in order to enable Community firms to

take on a leading role in the world market in this sector;

23. Calls for the activities carried out in the field of

standardization to be continued and for the Community's

illustrative nuclear programme to be constantly updated;

24. Proposes that, in view of the potential offered by

thermonuclear fusion energy, the Community continue its

research and development work in this field in cooperation

with other countries, while at the same time making

parallel efforts in terms of research, application and new

forms of funding in the area of renewable energy;

25. Calls for effective ways to be found to encourage

investment in new and renewable energy sources,

particularly in the promising field of developing wind

power and solar power;

26. Proposes that the Community, drawing on its experience of

cooperation between the Member States, set medium-term

objectives and draw up scientific and technological

programmes with the aim of continuing and increasing such

cooperation;

27. Calls for the new prospects opened up by the agreement on

a European Economic Area (EEA) to be taken into account in

all these sectors;

Within the framework of cooperation with the countries of Central

and Eastern Europe and North-South relations

28. Calls, after the signing in The Hague of the European

Energy Charter, an essentially political document, for

resolute progress to be made in negotiating the specific

and legally binding agreements, to be submitted as soon as

possible to the European Parliament;

29. Recommends that the Community should invest as much as

possible in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and

that it should engage in technological and environmental

cooperation in the energy sector, including nuclear safety;

30. Calls, in view of recent events, for a precise definition

of the entitlement to rights over existing energy resources

in the new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS);

31. Recommends that sufficient attention be paid to the risks

inherent in any situation where there is inadequate control

over the civil and military use of nuclear power, as was

dramatically demonstrated by the Chernobyl disaster;

32. Calls for Europe to support the energy programmes of the

developing countries through sufficient investment and

appropriate technology transfer, in particular in the field

of renewable energies;

33. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to

extend the JOULE and THERMIE programmes to include the

countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the developing

countries, with further special adequate funding;

34. Calls for the Commission to notify the European Parliament

in good time of the contributions it is preparing for the

United Nations Conference on the Environment and

Development to be held next year in Rio de Janeiro and for

the XVth Congress of the World Energy Conference to be held

in Madrid in 1992;

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35. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission and the Council.