NORTH EAST MEP OUTLINES THE CHALLENGE OF FUTURE ENERGY POLICY IN BERLIN DEBATE (Fiona Hall MEP)

Fiona Hall MEP <info@fionahall.org.uk>

NORTH EAST MEP OUTLINES THE CHALLENGE OF FUTURE ENERGY POLICY IN BERLIN DEBATE

February 28, 2005 12:00 AM

Fiona Hall, Liberal Democrat MEP for the North East, will address a packed audience of energy experts, company representatives and journalists at a debate on Energy and Security in Berlin tonight.

The North East Euro-MP will explain that in the face of rapidly declining national and global resources of fossil fuels, the UK and the European Union as a whole will become increasingly dependent upon energy from economically and politically unstable regions of the world. Next year, the UK will become a net importer of gas for the first time since exploitation of the North Sea oil and gas fields began.

The prospect of human-induced climate change adds further concern for decision-makers and Ms. Hall will stress the need for European countries to commit to a strategy with a variety of measures designed to simultaneously reduce our dependence on imported energy and combat climate change.

Such measures include improving how efficiently we use energy, promoting the use of renewable energy, ensuring that energy resources can flow easily into the EU and across it without technical and administrative interference, and investing heavily in alternative sources of energy for the future.

However, she will stress that the major battle will be persuading Member State Governments that they must commit now in order to tackle the looming problems of energy security and climate change.

Commenting ahead of tonight's speech she said:

"Tony Blair, for example, despite proclaiming that climate change will be a priority of the UK presidency of the European Council, is resisting even modest targets that are mandatory for improving the efficient use of energy. His position is so contradictory that I hope it will change."