(28/04/05) Hoog tijd om het einde van het olietijdperk in te luiden

• 2005-04-28

Rising oil prices threaten growth and jobs:
Greens urge Commission to take action on oil dependency

On the eve of a crucial International Energy Agency ministerial conference on the oil price crisis in Paris on 2–3 May, the Greens in the European Parliament today presented a set of measures to reduce the EU's dependency on oil and called for rapid action from the European Commission.

During a presentation to the press in Brussels of a position paper entitled 'Reducing Europe's oil dependency', Claude Turmes, Vice-president of the Greens/EFA Group and MEP for Luxembourg, said:
"The oil price is high and will remain high for structural reasons. New studies show that a 10% rise in oil prices will reduce global GDP by 0.5%. As the oil price has risen more than 50% over the last several months, the impact on the European economy is huge. Besides its damaging effects on climate and human health, oil is now also creating direct economic problems. It is time to prepare for the end of the oil age."

Rebecca Harms, German Member of the Parliament's Energy Committee, added:
"Our society needs to find a consensus to reduce dependency on oil. The Greens have clear proposals for alternatives to the oil society. We believe that the EU should start taking action in those fields where oil use is highest: the transport and building sectors. For a long-term and oil-independent strategy strong promotion of energy efficiency should be the number one priority for Europe."

Michael Cramer, German Member of the Parliament's Transport Committee, said:
"Enhancing transport efficiency is a key measure: the single biggest contribution to the reduction of oil consumption comes from mandatory standards for new cars. California is leading the way in this respect. Progressively stricter performance targets for cars will not only reduce oil use but also put EU car makers back on the competitiveness track where they have lost out against the Japanese, for example on hybrid engines."

"Other measures concern the promotion of bio-fuels and the introduction of road tolls. It is time for Europe to transpose at the EU level the success stories of the Swiss lorry toll and the London Congestion Charge. The Swiss toll has changed for example, the ratio of 70:30 of fuel transporters who used roads before the introduction of the toll to the same ratio now using rail. The congestion charge in London has reduced car use in the city by 20%."

The second most promising area of action singled out in the Green paper is the building sector, which accounts for 40% of overall EU energy use. A co-ordinated approach by the EU and national governments on refitting existing building stock and building new central district heating would lower oil and gas use in Europe, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of jobs.

A European Marshall plan for Sustainable Energy and Transport could be financed from a European Investment Bank scheme for cheap loans. Such a scheme was launched by the German public bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and has proved to be a big success and very popular.

While efficiency is the area with the most short-term potential, accelerating the build up of renewables is Europe's long term insurance policy when oil prices eventually peak. If high oil prices are the bad news, the good news is that the costs of supporting the rapid development of renewables are largely offset by their potential to lower the oil-GDP effect.

The Greens urge Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who will represent the Commission on Monday and Tuesday at the IEA Ministerial, to quickly come forward with new legal and financial proposals.

Claude Turmes MEP concluded:
"The Commission must act swiftly. All of the Lisbon talk is ridiculous if the Commission ignores what might be the biggest obstacle to promoting growth and employment; the price of oil."

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