On an energy assistance plan

The Federal Committee of the UEF:

  • Calls on consolidating the European Recovery Plan as a permanent tool, in particular its European debt component, as to provide long-term financing of the energy union, in particular its necessary ecological transition;
  • Calls on integrating the European Recovery Plan in the general budget of the EU, and securing an adequate financing with a set of own resources, as to provide long-term financing of the energy union, in particular its necessary ecological transition;
  • Calls for the relaunch of the Energy Union and reiterates its support to the rapid phase-out of the energy dependence on Russian natural gas, oil, coal, and uranium.
PDF

Adopted by the UEF Federal Committee in Brussels on 12 February 2023.

The UEF Federal Committee

  • having regard to the Ventotene Manifesto of 1941;
  • having regard to the UEF Resolution on the Industrial and Energy Policy in Europe adopted on 02 July 2006;
  • having regard to the UEF Resolution For a European Strategy on energy, sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply adopted on 26 November 2006 and motivated by Russia’s cut of its gas supply to Ukraine and Georgia during the first semester of that year;
  • having regard to the UEF Congress Resolution on the creation of an European Energy Community adopted on 12 October 2008;
  • having regard to the UEF Congress Resolution on a common European Energy Policy adopted on 27 March 2011;
  • having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights, in particular principle 20 on access to essential services;
  • having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 5 October 2022 on the EU’s response to the increase in energy prices in Europe;
  • having regard to the Proposal of a Manifesto for a Federal Europe: Sovereign, Social and Ecological, adopted in Ventotene on 29th of August 2022 by the Spinelli Group, which claims that “the War in Ukraine must give Europe” “an energy union”;

A. Whereas Russia’s export of fossil fuels funds the current invasion of Ukraine and its war crimes;

B. Whereas Putin´s aggression to Ukraine, along with the EU dependency of Russian energy, has provoked in 2022 record levels in oil and gas prices;

C. Whereas this dramatic increase of prices is driving citizens into financial stress and even poverty, while companies, and particularly SMEs, face decreased output, layoffs, and insolvency;

D. Whereas more than 50 million households in the EU already experience energy poverty and whereas this challenge is further exacerbated by the current energy crisis, leading to possible delays in access to basic needs; ,

E. Whereas the EU must immediately break its energy dependency from Russian, but in such way that we limit at the same time the damage to our economies and softens the effect on those who suffer most;

F. Calls for the relaunch of the Energy Union and reiterates its support to the rapid phaseout of the energy dependence on Russian natural gas, oil, and coal,

G. Underlines the need for a prompt diversification of energy supply sources, developing centralised gas purchases and strategic reserves at the EU level, promoting more efficient energy interconnections at European and international level, particularly for natural, liquefied gas and hydrogen, and decoupling energy prices from final prices paid by consumers,

H. Believes that there is a need to redouble the efforts to develop renewable energies (in particular green hydrogen) as the best way forward to guarantee energy autonomy, and thereby accelerating the implementation of the European Green Deal;

I. Whereas fiscal space and debt positions vary widely across Member States, but the needs of our citizens and companies are the same and they need to be compensated for the highenergy prices they have been facing;

L. Whereas the EU saw the success of confronting the pandemic with a spirit of European solidarity, which led to the joint procurement of vaccines and a Recovery Plan financed through jointly-issued debt;

M. Whereas it is worrying that several national programmes launched to face the consequences of the energy crisis continue to trump an EU coordinated action, leading to a myriad of national plans, different in size and scope, and therefore with unequal consequences in terms of fairness,sound competition and efficiency.

The Federal Committee of the UEF:

  1. Welcomes the European Council decision to ban coal imports, as well as crude oil imports from December 2022 and refined petroleum products from February 2023; calls for the total ban on all Russian´s direct and indirect imports of energy products to curtail the financing of Putin’s war machine;
  2. Stresses the need to protect Europeans from the weaponisation of energy exports by Putin; welcomes in that regard, the agreement reached on the 30th of September by the European Council on a tax on the energy sector's surplus revenues, believes that, in the current context, such tax should be extended to those companies in the general economy that have seen their revenues grow disproportionately, as to ensure that European citizens do not shoulder alone the consequences of the illegal war of aggression;
  3. Calls on the Commission to table a legislative proposal under article 122 of the TFEU in order to set up a European Energy Assistance Plan (EEAP) for the benefit of households and Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) across Europe, financed with EU-debt and based on the provision of grants and loans. Such an EU wide budgetary support will complement the action of the European Central Bank in order to calm volatile financial markets, while maintaining the integrity and unity of the internal market, by providing equal protection to European companies and citizens;
  4. Calls on the Commission examine whether the adopted EU measures to address the energy crisis have helped to reduce energy bills for the households and Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) across Europe, and whether there is a need for further measures that can be effectively implemented in a short time for those affected.
  5. Urges the European Commission and the Member States to advance towards achieving energy independence in Europe; while ensuring that energy costs remains affordable and prioritising the development of sustainable energy models; welcomes in that regard, the Next Generation EU and the adoption on 14 December 2022 of the REPowerEU plan to fast forward the green transition;
  6. Affirms that a social, secure and green energy model can only be achieved by pooling efforts at a European level, therefore calls for an effective development of an Energy Union;
  7. Believes that developing an energy union requires permanent common purchases of energy supplies at a EU level through an Energy Purchase Platform (EPP), the setup of strategic reserves at EU level, and shared energy grids, including the building of new natural and liquefied gas and green hydrogen interconnections in Europe, as well as, common investments in future new renewable energy trough an European Energy Security Fund (EESF);
  8. Calls therefore for a new European Energy Assistance Plan and a European Energy Security Fund financed through EU ‘own resource’ taxes, among others on the windfall profits of companies, since this would avoid the need for state guarantees and hence side-line all political and legal problems associated with them.
  9. Calls on consolidating the European Recovery Plan as a permanent tool, in particular its European debt component, as to provide long-term financing of the energy union, in particular its necessary ecological transition;
  10. Calls on integrating the European Recovery Plan in the general budget of the EU, and securing an adequate financing with a set of own resources, as to provide long-term financing of the energy union, in particular its necessary ecological transition;
  11. Affirms that the European Union should be endowed with a single energy policy with extended competences and the objective of promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency;
  12. Calls on a close and fair cooperation with African democracies for the creation of infrastructures for the development of green energy, solar, hydroelectric and wind power – as to foster sustainable developments and a strategic partnership to supplement the EU energetic autonomy.
  13. Calls for the relaunch of the Energy Union and reiterates its support to the rapid phase-out of the energy dependence on Russian natural gas, oil, coal, and uranium.
crossarrow-up