The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) voted today in Brussels on European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) MEP Marek Gróbarczyk’s report ‘Towards a European Energy Union’.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) voted today in Brussels on European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) MEP Marek Gróbarczyk’s report ‘Towards a European Energy Union’.

The report adopted today presents the EP’s view on what the future energy union should look like. According to the report the union should be based on a completion of the common energy market with free market mechanisms supporting solidarity towards member states suffering from dominance of one energy supplier. It underlines that part of the EU’s energy strategy shall be to fully tap all available Europe’s energy resources which contribute to the ultimate goal of Europe’s low-carbon future.

Having undergone months of debates, Gróbarczyk’s report is finally adopted with the main points of focus for energy policymakers and energy market stakeholders. The EP is requested to establish a common gas purchasing mechanism on a voluntary basis. The parliament is concerned about the proposed doubling capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline which could affect the European energy security, diversification of supply argument and the principle of solidarity between Member States. The report tackles the issue of ensuring long-term energy supplies to and throughout Ukraine compromising anti-Gazprom and pro-Ukraine orientated polices.

The word “decarbonisation” is only used a few times in the report which now says it should be properly managed, cost-effective, should not result in increased energy costs, energy poverty, deindustrialisation of the European economy or rises in unemployment. The report challenges as well the environmental concerns associated with shale gas but it doesn’t ban its extraction and doesn’t object to existing EU regulations. The European Commission 2014 recommendation on fracking remains in force for Member States interested in shale gas hydraulic fracturing.