Europaudvalget 2010-11 (1. samling), Det Udenrigspolitiske Nævn 2010-11 (1. samling)
Det Europæiske Råd 4/2-11 Bilag 2, UPN Alm.del Bilag 75
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COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels, 18 January 2011
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CO EUR-PREP 2
NOTE
from:
to:
Subject:
The General Secretariat of the Council
COREPER/General Affairs Council
European Council (4 February 2011)
- Draft conclusions
In accordance with article 2(3)(a) of the Council's Rules of Procedure, delegations will find
attached the draft conclusions prepared by the President of the European Council, in close
cooperation with the member of the European Council representing the Member State holding the
six-monthly Presidency of the Council and with the President of the Commission.
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o
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1.
The presentation of the Commission’s first Annual Growth Survey marks the launch of the
European semester of economic policy coordination. The European Council called on the
Council to examine it promptly and to report back in March, with a view to the European
Council giving guidance in advance of Member States finalizing their National Reform
Programmes and their mid term budgetary strategies.
2.
In times of budgetary consolidation it is more than ever crucial to maximize the efficiency of
public expenditure. The European Councils called for rapid progress on the revision of the
financial regulation and underlined the need to adopt by the end of year simplified financial
rules and more effective delivery mechanisms for EU policies.
I.
ENERGY
3.
Safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy remains a priority for Europe. Action at the
EU level can and must bring added value to that objective. Over the years, a lot of work has
been carried out on the main strands of an EU energy policy, including the setting of
ambitious energy and climate change objectives and the adoption of comprehensive
legislation supporting these objectives. But more action is needed to set Europe on the right
path.
4.
Basing its discussion on the Commission Communications on the 2020 Energy Strategy and
on infrastructure priorities and the initial work done at the Energy Council of 3 December
2010, the European Council highlights a number of key issues for future work.
An integrated and interconnected market
5.
The EU needs a fully functioning and integrated internal energy market. Legislation on the
internal energy market must therefore be speedily and fully implemented by Member States in
full respect of the March 2011 deadline. Council and European Parliament are invited to work
towards the early adoption of the Commission's proposal for a Regulation on energy markets
integrity and transparency.
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6.
A new agency to coordinate the work of national energy regulators (ACER) has been set up.
Progress has been made by national regulators and transmission systems operators on market
coupling and guidelines and network codes applicable across European networks; however,
the pace of work should be accelerated. The relevant actors should deliver on their work
programmes so as to complete the internal energy market by 2014 at the latest, in particular
by putting in place EU-wide network codes and removing all technical barriers to allow gas
and electricity to flow freely within the EU. Member States, in liaison with European
standardization bodies, are invited to accelerate work on technical standards for smart grids
and meters and charging system for electric vehicles with a view to adopting such standards
by the end of 2012.
7.
As set out in the Commission's communication on infrastructure priorities, major efforts are
needed to modernise and expand Europe's energy infrastructure, be it pipelines, transmission
lines or storage facilities, and to interconnect markets across borders. This is crucial to ensure
that solidarity between Member States will become operational, that alternative supply routes
will materialise and that renewables will develop and compete on an equal footing with
traditional sources. The Commission intends to propose an initiative to streamline
authorisation procedures, while respecting national procedures, for the building of new
infrastructure. The various initiatives undertaken by Member States to integrate networks at a
regional level as well as those outlined in the Commission communication contribute to the
objective and deserve support. No EU member State should remain an energy island after
2015 or see its energy security jeopardized by lack of the appropriate connections.
8.
The bulk of the important financing costs for infrastructure investments will have to be
delivered by the market, with costs recovered through tariffs. Particular attention should be
given to the setting of tariffs at levels consistent with financing needs and to the appropriate
cost allocation for cross-border investments. However, some projects that would be justified
from a security of supply/solidarity perspective but are unable to attract enough market-based
finance will require some limited public finance. The Commission is invited to submit by
June 2011 to the Council figures on the investments likely to be needed and suggestions on
how to respond to financing requirements - starting within the current 2007-2013 financial
framework - and accommodate the risks attached to complex infrastructure projects.
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Energy efficiency and Renewables
9.
Investments in energy efficiency enhance competitiveness and support security of energy
supply and sustainability at low cost. The 2020 20% energy efficiency target, which is
presently not on track, must be delivered. This requires determined action by public
authorities and the private sector to tap the considerable potential for higher energy
productivity of buildings, transport and product/processes. As of 1 January 2012, all Member
States will include energy efficiency standards consistent with the EU headline target in all
public contracts for new public buildings and services. The Council is invited to promptly
examine the upcoming Commission proposal for a new Energy Efficiency Plan, setting out in
more detail a series of policies and measures across the full energy supply chain. It will
review the implementation of the EU energy efficiency target by 2013 and consider further
measures if necessary.
10.
The Commission is invited to strengthen its work with Member States on the implementation
of the Renewable Energy Directive, in particular as regards stable support schemes and
cooperation mechanisms.
11.
The EU and its Member States will give priority to investment in renewables and low carbon
technologies and focus on implementing the technology priorities established in the European
Strategic Energy Technology plan. The Commission is invited to table new initiatives on
smart grids, energy storage, sustainable bio fuels and energy saving solutions for cities.
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Energy and external relations
12.
There is a need for more systematic coordination of EU and Member States' activities with a
view to ensuring consistency and coherence in the EU’s dealings with key producer, transit,
and consumer countries. The Commission is invited to submit by June 2011 a communication
on energy security and international cooperation aimed at further improving the consistency
and coherence of the EU's external action in the field of energy. The Member States are
invited to inform the Commission of all new and existing bilateral energy agreements from
1 January 2012; the Commission will make this information available to all other Member
states in an appropriate form, having regard to the need for protection of commercially
sensitive information.
13.
The EU should develop partnerships on regulatory approaches on all subjects of common
interest, such as low carbon technologies and energy efficiency, with key players and around
strategic corridors. In practical terms, concrete work should start as early as possible
concerning such a partnership with Russia, in view of the extensive work already going on in
terms of the post-PCA process, the Partnership for Modernization and the Energy Dialogue.
Long term strategic vision
14.
The low carbon 2050 strategy provides the framework for the longer term action in the energy
and other related sectors. The EU has already committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 80-95% by 2050; this will require a revolution in energy systems, which must start now,
by delivering on the 2020 objectives. Due consideration should be given to fixing concrete
intermediary stages towards reaching the 2050 objective. The European Council will keep
developments under review on a regular basis.
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II.
INNOVATION
With an ageing population and strong competitive pressures from globalization, Europe’s
future economic growth and jobs will increasingly have to come from innovation in products,
services and business models. Investment in research and innovation is a key driver of
growth, and innovative ideas that can be turned into new products and services help create
growth and quality jobs. The European Council called for a strategic and integrated approach
to boosting innovation, to the benefit of citizens, companies and researchers. It will track
progress in the framework of the follow up to the Europe 2020 Strategy.
15.
Tackling the grand societal challenges
16.
Innovation contributes to tackling the most critical societal challenges we are facing (such as
health, food and energy security, sustainable development, climate change, ageing
populations), which at the same time provide opportunities for new markets and for
reinforcing Europe's competitiveness. To that end, mobilizing Europe’s expertise and
resources in a coherent manner, fostering synergies between the EU and Member States’
levels to ensure that innovations with a societal benefit get to the market quicker is a priority.
The launch of the pilot Partnership on active and healthy ageing is important in that context;
the active support of the Council, European Parliament, Member States and stakeholders is
now needed to make the partnership a success. Regular monitoring will be necessary in order
to reach concrete goals to be fixed year by year.
Completing the European Research Area
17.
Europe needs a unified research area to attract talent and investment. Remaining gaps must
therefore be addressed rapidly and the European Research Area completed by 2014 to create a
genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation. In particular, the mobility of
researchers should be improved: the Commission is invited to present a proposal to
encourage the mobility of graduate students. It is also invited to present proposals to enhance
the portability of researchers’ pension rights. Furthermore, information about publicly
financed R&D should be better spread, notably through the establishment of an inventory of
EU-funded R&D, linked to similar inventories of R&D programmes funded at national level.
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Improving framework conditions for innovative companies
18.
Private investment in innovative products and services should be encouraged, in particular by
improving framework conditions. In this regard:
the Commission is invited to make proposals to accelerate and modernize
standardization procedures, notably to allow turning industry developed standards into
European standards under certain conditions;
public procurement should be better geared to creating greater demand for innovative
goods and services; to this end Member States will significantly increase the part of
their public procurement budgets devoted to innovative products, processes and
services; the Commission should provide guidance on the application of the Directives
on public procurement;
the Commission will conduct a mid term review of the relevant State aid frameworks
during 2011;
the Commission is invited to work on the setting up an intellectual property rights
valorisation instrument at the European level, in particular to ease SMEs' access to the
knowledge market and to report back to the Council by the end of 2011.
19.
Every effort should be pursued to lift remaining legal and administrative obstacles to the
cross-border operation of venture capital funds in order to achieve a genuine European
Venture Capital market. The Commission is invited to present proposals for putting in place
an EU wide venture capital scheme building on the EIF and incorporation with national
operators, as well as for scaling up the Risk Sharing Finance Facility and for assessing how
best to meet the needs of fast growing innovative companies. The Commission is also invited
to explore the feasibility of a Small Business Innovation Research Scheme in order to support
young innovative companies, which could be managed by an agency on the model of the
European Research Council.
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Prioritizing public support
20.
In conducting fiscal consolidation, Member States should give priority to sustainable growth-
friendly expenditure in areas such as research and innovation, education and energy. This
should be coupled with clear reform measures aimed at boosting the effectiveness of their
research and innovation systems, which they should set out in their final National Reform
Programmes. At national level, Member States will make full use of the option of devoting
50% of ETS revenue to finance climate-related innovative projects. They will also improve
the use of existing Structural Funds for research and innovation projects.
21.
It is crucial that EU instruments aimed at fostering R&D&I be simplified in order to facilitate
their take up by the best scientists and the most innovative companies, in particular by
agreeing between the relevant institutions a new balance between trust and control and
between risk taking and risk avoidance. The Commission is invited to make proposals by mid
2011. The next multiannual financial framework should reflect the strategic importance of
R&D&I. The development of financing mechanisms adequate for the financing of major
European projects that are important drivers for research and innovation should be explored.
Measuring innovation
22.
The European Council noted the trends and developments revealed by the current
Commission innovation scoreboard. It invited the Commission to continue to develop a
single indicator to allow a better monitoring of progress in innovation. It will keep
developments concerning the above under review.
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