Download Communication COM(2003) 262 final
Introduction
As President Prodi has outlined1 and the Commission has set out in its Communication on a Wider Europe2, the European Union has to act as a force for stability and sustainable development in the European continent. Extending the benefits of the Internal Market is part of that projection of stability to the ring of countries that surround the Union. This is a central role for the Union.
Neighbouring countries to the European Union of today and tomorrow play a vital role in the Union's energy policy. They supply a major part of the European Union's requirements of natural gas and, increasingly, oil; a role that will grow significantly in the future. They and our partners ensure the transit of primary energy to the EU. These countries will progressively become full, important and equal players in the European Union's internal gas and electricity markets.
This Communication is focused on energy relations of the enlarged European Union with its neighbours and most important geographical partners in this sector. Although inspired by the recent Communication on a Wider Europe, its geographical scope is slightly different as it includes also South-East Europe - as an example of what might be envisaged on the regulation of the markets - and the Caspian Basin where appropriate. These two areas are of particular importance for the completeness of the Internal Energy Market and for the security of energy supplies of the European Union.3
The objectives of the policy set out in this Communication are to:
Together with the neighbouring countries and our partners, the European Union
can face the challenges of growing external energy dependence, the need to
address infrastructure issues on a regional level, to diversify sources of energy
geographically and technologically and to broaden the basis for energy trade in
the European continent and its adjoining continents.
1. Romano Prodi President of the European Commission A Wider Europe - A Proximity Policy as
the key to stability "Peace, Security and Stability; International Dialogue and the Role of the EU"
Sixth ECSA-World Conference. Jean Monnet Project. Brussels, 5-6 December 2002
2. Wider Europe - Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern
Neighbours, Brussels, 11.3.2003 - COM(2003) 104 final
3. The Commission intends to put forward a further communication at the end of 2003 examining
infrastructure issues with respect to accession countries. As such, the Commission does not
address these issues taking as a base here of the enlarged European Union and the relations it will
have with its neighbours and partners. In this later communication the issues of increasing the
geographic scope of the European Research Area - in which energy strongly features - will be
addressed.
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