§ Mr. Forman asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about European Economic Community Council of Energy Ministers' meeting on 27 October.
§ Mr. Lawson:The Council of Energy Ministers of the European Community met in Luxembourg on 27 October. I took the chair. The Under-Secretary of State for Energy—my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor)—represented the United Kingdom.
The Council had a wide-ranging discussion of a Commission paper on the development of an energy strategy for the Community. The paper identified five priorities: the need to ensure adequate investment in alternatives to oil and rational energy use; the development of a common approach to energy pricing and taxation; the establishment of measures to avoid instability on the oil market; the reinforcement of common policies in research, development and technological demonstration; and the further development of a common approach in external energy relations. The outcome of this discussion will be taken into account in the work leading to the European Council at the end of November.
Three of the priority areas identified by the Commission—energy pricing, possible measures to meet a limited oil supply shortfall and demonstration projects—were considered further during the council.
401WOn energy pricing, there was a substantial measure of agreement on draft conclusions based on Commission proposals to develop Community pricing principles and to improve price transparency. Further work is to be done as a matter of urgency with a view to reaching detailed agreement at an early date.
The Council agreed in principle, subject to a Greek reserve, on guidelines for dealing with a limited shortfall in oil supplies as a basis for consultations with other industrialised countries. The Council will review the procedure and the range of possible measures to be taken in the light of these consultations.
The Council considered Commission proposals for further funding of 160 million ECU for demonstration projects in new energy sources and energy savings. The Council could not agree on a figure, but asked the Commission to submit ideas on the balance between the schemes on the illustrative basis of further funding of 105 million ECU.
The Council agreed to renew for two years ECSC decision 73/287/ECSC which established a Community scheme for subsidising intra-Community trade in coking coal. The Scrutiny Committee of the House had not considered this matter; but the United Kingdom interest in th decision is small and the United Kingdom did not believe it was right to prevent agreement at the Council. The Council also approved conclusions on oil refining capacity which noted that oil companies were already carrying out necessary rationalisation. In addition, it adopted a recommendation on electricity tariff structure and approved the seventh and latest round of Community projects in the hydrocarbons sector, totalling 26 million ECU and including two United Kingdom projects which represent about 25 per cent. of this sum. All these decisions were subject to Greek waiting reserves.
Ministers reached general conclusions on a Commission paper about natural gas supplies.