Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

 
HELSINKI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The European Union's energy commissioner said on Tuesday that nuclear power and coal provided stability in the face of volatile fuel prices and Europe could ill afford to shun such power alternatives.

Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said the vulnerability of European economies to energy price instability and worrisome forecasts of climate change were among the key challenges that the EU needed to face in its energy policy.

"Nuclear and coal mean stability in energy prices, which is good for stable growth," de Palacio told a news conference.

De Palacio, who is also commissioner for transport and a vice-president of the European Commission, referred to recently volatile oil and gas prices in particular.

She said the biggest concern in the latest bout of volatility to hit oil prices was the instability it caused in European and other economies rather than the level to which oil prices had risen.

Her remarks came after meetings with Finnish leaders including Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on a visit to promote discussion of the Commission's Green Paper on a European strategy for the security of the energy supply.

But de Palacio said stability was not enough and urgent measures were needed to fulfill the commitments of the Kyoto environmental pact, which requires Europe to cut greenhouse gas emmissions by eight percent from the 1990 level by 2010.

She warned that without measures to boost efficiency, energy savings and production of renewable resources, and to retain nuclear power, Europe risked seeing its emissions rise rather than fall because economic growth would increase energy demand.

"Nuclear is one element of our energy policy mix which is unavoidable nowadays -- in 50 years I do not know what the situation will be," she said.

De Palacio said however that whether to use or not use nuclear power -- which accounts for 35 percent of electricity production in the EU -- remained a question for national governments to decide.

06:35 02-20-01

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