A new strategy for the single market at the service of Europe economy and society

The document ”A new strategy for the single market at the service of Europe economy and society“ drawn up and signed by Mario Monti and delivered to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in May 2010, could indicate the possible innovations that Government could introduce in the energy market and in particular renewable energy sector.

Topics covered in the text are:

  • Improving the welfare of consumers;
  • Interconnect European energy markets and ensure a secure supply;
  • Increased availability of products and low carbon technologies;
  • Increase EU funding: € 50 billion.

The text ends by giving key recommendations:

  1. Establish new EU regulatory frameworks for the large scale deployment of renewable sources, smart metering, smart grids and transparent wholesale energy markets.
  2. Establish a single market for green products, by developing EU-wide standards for measuring and auditing carbon footprints and for energy efficient products, including trade certificates for renewable energy products;
  3. Step up targeted EU funding for energy infrastructure.

Here’s an excerpt from the publication:

Only a single market for energy offers the scale necessary for accelerating the uptake of new and young low carbon technologies along the whole energy value chain. There is a need to use the full potential of the single market for energy to lower the costs and speed up the roll-out of such technologies in the EU. This requires delivering a stable regulatory framework for large scale infrastructure products and proactive use of standardisation to promote innovative green products and technologies, exploring the application of the New Approach model in this area. Competition policy should also be used proactively to create the right environment for new technologies to mature and enter the market.

There is a risk that the effort sharing approach on renewable energy, which leaves the choice of policy instruments up to Member States results in the “renationalisation” of energy policy. Renewables support policies will have to become an integral part of the internal energy market in order to avoid market distortion which can lead to wrong pricing signals to investors. Requirements for other low-carbon related technologies and products should continue to be defined at EU level, avoiding proliferation of national approaches.

Source: Dailye