An unprincipled global scramble for energy resources may replace battles for territory of the past and Europe must forge a united policy or face being left behind by rivals, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Monday. Javier Solana also warned that competition for energy could well limit the European Union's ability to push foreign policy objectives such as conflict resolution, human rights and good governance.

"The scramble for territory of the past may be replaced today by the scramble for energy," he told a conference in Brussels on energy supply security. Solana cited the crisis in Darfur and the situation in Myanmar as examples of where it had proven difficult to secure support from key countries for EU policy objectives, given the importance of energy resources to states like China and India.

"However we choose to deal with such regimes, others will put the energy needs above anything else. The scramble for energy risks being pretty unprincipled," he said. Solana said most of the major issues before the UN Security Council had an important energy dimension, yet too often EU states ended up divided on energy policy or defending a position that was the lowest common denominator. "That has to change," he said. "Let us be clear: if we are not able to launch a unified and substantive position to these issues partners will run rings around us. It has already come pretty close to that on some occasions."

The 25-nation EU, which expands to 27 countries in January, has struggled to form a common energy policy even as its dependence on foreign sources of fuel has grown, with EU governments reluctant to cede energy authority to Brussels. The EU gets 50 percent of its energy from third countries and that dependency is projected to grow to 70 percent by 2020.

POWER CUTS SHOWED VULNERABILITY
The bloc was rattled by a brief cut in supplies of Russian gas last January, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the conference that power cuts in Europe this month "laid bare for all to see" the bloc's vulnerability. "In a flash, greater integration ceased to be some abstract ideal, for millions of our citizens it became a necessity," Barroso said. "The facts are changing and we in the European Union must change our policies to fit these facts." "It is in all our interest that we maximise coordination in the external area and speak with one voice," he added.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told the conference the EU had leverage as a major customer. "We should make sure we work together to get the best deal and the strongest energy security for all Europeans."

However, how far major powers such as Germany, Britain and Italy are prepared to cede power to Brussels to negotiate with energy suppliers, and to accept binding targets for energy efficiency and use of renewable fuels, remains to be seen. An EU summit next March will determine how far member states are willing to pool their energy policies.

The Brussels conference comes ahead of an EU summit with Russia in Helsinki on Friday at which the bloc will attempt to rebalance its energy relationship with its key supplier. Despite strong EU pressure, Moscow is refusing to ratify an Energy Charter Treaty that would force it to break up Gazprom's monopoly on gas supplies and transit, opening its pipelines to third-party traffic.

Russia, for its part, is demanding greater freedom for its giant energy companies to invest in downstream firms in the EU.
By David Brunnstrom and Jeff Mason
(Planet Ark, 21/11/2006)
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39084/story.htm