The President of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Mr. Bojidar Danev participates in the 447th Plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee on 17th and 18th of September 2008 in Brussels.
Mr. Danev participates in drafting of the following opinions:
- Governance and partnership at national and regional levels and project basis in the field of regional policy
- Impact of the ongoing development of energy markets on industrial value chains in Europe
- Sustainable power generation from fossil fuels.
The main conclusions and recommendations drawn from the opinion on Governance and partnership at national and regional level are that good governance implies ‘multi-level government’ and partnerships with representative organised civil society at regional level. Flexible "multi-level government" and good governance, and corresponding synergies focused on tailor-made solutions can be most helpful to respond to the ultimate objective of EU and national regional policy. The EESC endorses the Parliament's proposal to set up a formal Council of Territorial Development. It would underline "multi-level government" and it would make discussions and agreements more obligatory. Consequently, representative organised civil society at regional level should be given the opportunity for responsible and transparent involvement in defining and executing EU regional programmes. Taking local and regional (non-governmental) views on board will contribute to the acceptance of the values of the Union by the citizens. The well-structured consultations can lead to successful partnerships with non-governmental stakeholders in the whole chain of defining, monitoring and evaluating regional policy.
In the opinion on Impact of the ongoing development of energy markets on industrial value chains in Europe the Committee takes note of the changed environment for energy markets and recognises the need to mitigate anthropogenic climate change by cutting GHG emissions. The costs of climate change and cost-efficient approaches of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions are important issues in the climate policy discussion. These questions are even more important, as global energy supplies will have to double by 2050 to meet the energy needs of all the people in the world. Sustainable energy and climate policy must be structured in such a way that it achieves its aims while at the same time retaining the industrial value chains as the backbone of the European economy, even when the costs of the damage associated with climate change are taken into account. This is very much in the interests of the European Union itself.
The energy-intensive industries require secure energy supplies, drawn from an appropriate European energy mix, which should not exclude any energy source (coal, renewable energy nuclear energy) and be based upon efficient competition on the electricity and gas markets ultimately resulting in reasonable prices of energy supplies. The interests of national energy policies should be more strongly embedded in an integrated European concept, because so far the energy market has not kept pace with the single market for industrial goods. Although some Member States have decided not to use nuclear energy, maintaining electricity generation based on fission in the EU would also mean keeping the know-how on this technology in Europe. Of course, continuing the nuclear option would require a high safety level and well-trained employees.
Concluding an ambitious international climate change agreement is of utmost importance for the fight against climate change. It has to lead to emission reduction obligations for all major emitting countries (according to the principle of common, but differentiated responsibilities), including the energy-intensive industries in order to ensure fair competition and a level playing field. In the absence of such an agreement, free allocation of allowances to energy-intensive industries at risk of "carbon leakage" should be considered in the framework of the EU ETS in order to counter risks to the competitiveness of industrial location and economic growth in Europe. The final choice of allocation method should be performance-based (such as benchmarking), on the basis of best available techniques.
To pave the way for a long-term contribution to the aims of energy and climate policy, the Committee strongly recommends focusing on research and development of new technologies, particularly because the available production processes are largely mature. Where technical solutions do not yet exist, the requirements of higher energy efficiency and emission reduction targets cannot be fulfilled. There are workable structures in place already, such as Technology platforms for example, but efforts need much stronger coordination as is expected in the SET-Plan, for instance. However, enough time must be allowed to achieve the intended advance in technology and the required marketability in terms of global competitiveness.
In the opinion on Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Supporting Early Demonstration of Sustainable Power Generation from Fossil Fuels the EESC endorses the mechanisms in the proposal for promoting the demonstration of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) in power stations, as set out in the Commission's Communication, however the lack of financing capacity and clearly established financing options for the medium (2010-2020) and long term (2020 and beyond) is a concern.
Care should be taken to ensure that the lack of financing capacity by the Commission can be partly compensated by revenue generated via the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) e.g. through the auctioning of emission allowances by the power generating sector after 2013. It is important to note that so far, no specific financial has been suggested at EU- including necessary security -scheme level. Revenue generated by the EU-ETS should be collected at national level as part of the implementation of the revised EU-ETS directive from 2013 on.
It is important that financial conditions are clear and well-established by the end of 2009 at the latest. Only this will ensure a financial basis for launching the preparation of large-scale CCS demonstration sites to be operational in 2015.
The Commission should draw up a plan defining the organisation and role of the European Industrial Initiative, ensuring that it complements but does not overlap with other initiatives such as the projects supported by the Seventh Framework Programme, the European Technology Platform for Zero-Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants and the European Flagship programme.
