European Community gas supply and prospects

In adopting the report by Mr Giles CHICHESTER (PPE, UK), Parliament called on the Commission and Council to make progress with measures with a view to establishing a true internal market for natural gas ensuring security of supply, public interest responsibilities and consumers' rights and guaranteeing a high level of research and development. It considered that, in view of the EU's growing dependency on imports from third countries, one such measure should be a detailed risk analysis in relation to supply security. Moreover, with a view to concluding long-term, stable contracts it called for a package of social and political measures for the supplier countries. Furthermore, the European Energy Charter could be extended to embrace countries to the south and possibly in the Middle East. Other measures should concern the removal of obstacles caused by certain national prospecting and production policies. The Commission and the industry were asked to support research work or programmes covering differing techniques or systems aimed at boosting energy output and ensuring a diversification of supply sources and types of fuel (hybrid systems, utilization of associated gases, systems for co-generation, reduction of serious gas pipeline leakage, natural gas liquefaction ). The EP considered that the Union and Member States should be aware of the risks associated with overdependence on any one energy source, and suggested that 25% of total energy supply constitutes the threshold which should trigger a review by the Commission. �