Eu Governments Haggle Over Energy Funds

摘要

EU governments are haggling over who should benefit from the European Commission's plans to divert unspent money from its agricultural subsidies budget to support specific strategic European energy projects. The plans are part of a wider €200 billion ($255 billion) European economic recovery plan agreed by EU leaders in December designed to help EU economies weather the worst of the global downturn.rnHowever, the Commission is also hoping to capitalize on the positive political will following January's Russia-Ukraine gas supply crisis to tackle some urgent EU energy security issues. "We need to learn the lessons of the recent gas crisis and invest heavily in energy," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. The Commission argued that the gas crisis had "demonstrated serious weaknesses" in interconnection between EU countries, with some - notably Bulgaria and Slovakia - having no clear alternative supplies.rnThe Commission proposed to divert €3.5 billion, with €1.75 billion allocated for gas and power interconnectors, €0.5 billion for offshore wind and €1.25 billion for carbon capture and storage projects. All three areas were identified as priorities in the Commission's November 2008 second strategic European energy review.