EU energy ministers wrangle over $4.7 bln wish list
19 Feb 2009 17:47:48 GMT Source: Reuters
By Pete Harrison and Ilona Wissenbach BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - European energy ministers wrangled on Thursday over how to spend 3.75 billion euros ($4.7 billion) on shoring up the region's energy supplies after this winter's gas crisis. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last month proposed using 3.5 billion euros of unused European Union funds on a list of over 30 projects to increase the bloc's self sufficiency, this week boosted by a further 250 million euros. Gas and power connections top the Commission's shopping list, which is also aimed at creating jobs and reinvigorating economies. "A lot of questions are still being raised... we will continue to try to justify that our proposal is right," European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said. Shoring up the reliability of energy supplies has jumped to the top of the European Union's agenda since Russia invaded Georgia last summer, coming close to a key gas supply route. The EU was also rattled this month when a gas dispute between Russia and transit country Ukraine cut supplies to Europe during freezing weather, forcing factories to close and leaving thousands of households shivering. But the EU spending plan has not won universal approval from European nations starting to feel the pinch of recession. "We have to make sure that the measures make sense, are cost efficient and not only a sample of national sensitivities," said German economics minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. "We speak about an EU measure, this has to be coherent," he added. "This is not yet given." A revised version of Barroso's proposal, given to European ambassadors late on Wednesday, raised the level of funding for projects in Italy, France and southeastern Europe, which was hit especially hard by the crisis. France and Italy joined a list of six countries set to receive over a billion euros for cutting edge carbon capture and storage technology. The Nabucco pipeline project, a long-term vision that is one day hoped to carry Caspian gas across Turkey to Europe, had its funding downgraded from 250 million euros to 200 million. Ministers also debated plans by the European Commission to revise a 40-year-old directive that instructs member states each to hold 90 days of oil supplies for emergencies. The new proposals would force companies to improve the transparency of EU supplies by reporting oil stocks each week, rather than the current system of monthly national reports. "Weekly reporting seems too bureaucratic and burdensome to a few member states," Czech industry minister Martin Riman said. "It was a lively discussion." But Commissioner Piebalgs said it was essential to gain visibility of the EU's position. "A weekly report will not add additional bureaucracy," he said. "The Commission will fight for it." (Writing by Pete Harrison; editing by Sue Thomas)
Leader of Bulgaria's nationalist Attack party Volen Siderov shouts slogans during a demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy building in central Sofia February 19, 2009. Some one thousand nationalist supporters ...
