A3-0179/94

Resolution on the Agreement on the European Energy Charter and specific protocols

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions tabled by :

(a)Mr Seligman on hydrocarbon resources in the Commonwealth of Independent States (B3-0310/93),

(b)Mr Seligman on the nuclear protocol of the European Energy Charter (B3-0311/93),

-having regard to the text of the European Energy Charter signed in The Hague on 17 December 1991,

-having regard to its resolutions of 13 December 1991 on the European Energy Charter and on general principles of pan-European energy cooperation, energy cooperation with the USSR and electricity supplies to Central and Eastern European countries, and of 15 December 1993 on nuclear safety in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States,

-having regard to the provisional text of the Agreement on the European Energy Charter and the associated protocols on nuclear energy, energy efficiency and hydrocarbons,

-having regard to the Commission communication entitled 'The European Energy Charter: fresh impetus from the European Community' (COM(93) 0542),

-having regard to the communication of 21 September 1993 by the Minister for Atomic Energy of the Russian Republic to the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology,

-having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology and the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security (A3-0179/94),

A.whereas balanced exploitation of the energy potential of the Republics of the former Soviet Union and of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is of vital importance in ensuring the success of the current efforts to put their economies on a sound footing and hence to contribute to greater political stability,

B. whereas the existence of international rules for safeguarding investments could constitute an incentive for Western economic operators in the energy sector,

C. whereas the negotiations on the Agreement on the Energy Charter, with a view to transposing the principles laid down in the Charter into legally binding provisions, have been proceeding for more than two years; whereas, however, the necessary national legislation in the countries whose economies are in transition is not fully applied everywhere,

D.whereas the Agreement on the Energy Charter lays down the horizontal provisions concerning, in particular, investment safeguards, trade, and energy transit and, in tandem with this, protocols are being drawn up on energy efficiency, hydrocarbons and nuclear energy,

E.whereas, moreover, there is a major shortcoming with regard to environmental protection, since the provisions of Article 22 are not legally binding and are not subject to the dispute settlement procedure provided for,

F.whereas, furthermore, the disastrous environmental situation in all Central and Eastern European countries is essentially the result of local energy production and accession to the planned protocol on energy efficiency is not mandatory for countries which are signatories to the Agreement on the Energy Charter,

G.whereas the considerable scope for savings provided by improvements in energy efficiency at both production and consumption level makes this option undoubtedly more cost-effective and more environmentally favourable than further investments in the nuclear sector,

H.whereas exports of energy to Western Europe must not be allowed to lead to an increase in the nuclear generation of power in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS,

1.Believes that the Western industrialized countries (especially the EU) should make every effort to bring to a successful conclusion the current negotiations being conducted under the European Energy Charter on a long-term basis for the exchange of energy and technology between the West and the East (and especially the CIS);

2.Approves the Commission's new approach, which provides for the conclusion of an initial agreement on trade, transit, the settlement of disputes and 'domestic treatment' of investors and for a second agreement to be concluded within three years concerning the treatment of foreign investment in the pre-investment phase; asks the Commission to ensure that this time limit is not exceeded because of the negative influence delays would have on investment decisions to improve Russian production capacity;

3.Calls for measures to be taken to support the implementation of the basic idea included in the Energy Charter of improving the environmental situation in Central and Eastern Europe (insistence on the principle of environmental impact testing, establishment of norms, standards and mutual monitoring and information mechanisms);

4.Believes that the dispute settlement procedure must be extended to include the environment, which is not adequately taken into account in the draft Agreement;

5.Sees a particular need for financial support from the West - in conjunction with western known-how - to reduce the current waste of energy in the CIS (and other Central and Eastern European countries) and realize energy savings at a time of increasing energy prices and believes that this would strengthen the energy base for the economic development of these Eastern and Central European countries, create potential for an increase in the exchange of energy between East and West and make a decisive contribution to easing the burden on the environment;

6.Believes that it is also necessary for the EU and the other Western industrialized countries to undertake to transfer the latest environmental and energy conservation technologies to the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and the CIS;

7.Regards it as essential that all the contracting parties to the Agreement on the Energy Charter adopt and ratify the protocols on energy efficiency and nuclear energy (and the planned protocol on hydrocarbons), since they are integral instruments of the accords concluded under the initial Treaty;

8.Takes the view that Western aid should have the aim not only of improving the safety of nuclear power stations but also of helping to create the conditions for more rational use and greater diversification of energy resources so that the most hazardous reactors (graphite-moderated pressure-tube reactors of the Chernobyl type) can be closed down;

9.Considers it essential for the Community to focus on the replacement of the nuclear reactors in Eastern Europe with energy conservation measures or new, environmentally friendly, conventional power stations; believes that end-of-pipe safety measures are acceptable only if there are no alternatives, that this must be thoroughly checked beforehand and that the West should in particular revise the COCOM list;

10.Insists that cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe in the energy sector must on no account result in the disposal or reprocessing of western nuclear material in Eastern Europe;

11.Believes that the provisions of the Energy Charter being negotiated must not conflict with the practices and intentions of the ECSC and EURATOM Treaties;

12.Calls for the EC programmes of assistance for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (PHARE and TACIS) to be geared to support and related measures and to the creation of the necessary framework conditions (measures in the environmental sphere, the creation of energy legislation and insurance arrangements for the energy sector, for example);

13.Believes that, to facilitate and finance the difficult and economic transitional phase in the Central and Eastern European countries, appropriate interim financing options should be introduced, for which collateral in the form of energy supplies would be expedient;

14.Believes that, as the Energy Charter (Charter Treaty and specific protocols) is an international agreement entailing legal obligations and budgetary implications for the Community, the European Parliament should be fully involved in the ratification process;

15.Proposes that the European Parliament should join with representatives of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS in establishing a joint parliamentary conference with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Energy Charter and supporting the reform process in these countries;

16.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and to the parliaments of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and of the Commonwealth of Independent States.