Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from July, 2013

Last Quotation of President Obama on Keystone XL Pipeline

A lot has been said and written on the Keystone pipeline multi-phase project  which transports oil sand bitumen between Alberta, Canada, to the United States and ultimately to the Gulf Coast Area near Houston. The currently debated phases awaiting approval concern phases III and IV of the project (so-called " Keystone XL proposal "). Phases I and II are completed. Here follows a transcript of President Obama interview with the New York Times (NYT) realised on 24 July 2013, where he addressed the issue and summed up his last stance on the issue (underlinings are mine):

The French Court of Auditors Assesses the National Renewable Energy Policy

France's Court of Auditors has released on 25 July 2013 a report assessing the national policy in the field of promotion of renewable energies .  The conclusions (in French) of the report are available on the website of the Court . A comment in English of the report will be shortly posted on this blog. Hereafter follow the 8 recommendations of the Court in their original version: •    mettre en place un dispositif centralisé du suivi statistique permettant de donner toute la visibilité requise pour éclairer les décisions, notamment en matière de connaissance des coûts de production par filière, des emplois et des marchés ; •    simplifier le régime juridique applicable à la production d’énergies renouvelables (géothermie, éolien terrestre) ; •    mettre en Å“uvre une planification et une cartographie des énergies renouvelables en tenant compte des contraintes de raccordement aux réseaux électriques ; •    réserver les appels d’offre aux technologies les plus en

European Commission Targets Aids from Germany to Energy-Intensive Industries in relation to Risks of Carbon Leakage (updated)

As expected (see previous post ), the European Commission has concluded its assessment of Germany's state support to energy-intensive industries facing an alleged risk of carbon leakage in two state aid decisions , both released on 17 July 2013 (press release, IP/13/704 ). In the first decision, the Commission concludes positively, but not in the second one. From a procedural point of view, it should be reminded that a Member State cannot put into effect a scheme which has been notified under state aid rules to the Commission until the latter has approved it. Positive decision on 2013 national carbon leakage scheme In the first decision, the Commission assessed Germany's scheme for the compensation of CO 2 costs in favour of energy-intensive industries as reflected in their electricity price, i.e. so-called carbon leakage. The European executive concludes that the scheme is in line with the harmonised methodology defined in the EU state aid guidelines adopted in t

German Renewable Energies Law and its Exemptions under EU Scrutiny: European Commission may Launch Legal Proceedings for Breach of Competition Law

The news came on 14 July that the European Commission is considering launching legal proceeding against Germany's Renewable Energies Act ( so-called EEG , founding act of the German energy transition,  Energiwende ). The information was originally released by Der Spiegel .  DG Competition services have apparently concluded, after scrutiny of the German legislation for renewables, that some of the legal provisions providing for exemptions from charges levied on electricity consumers with the purpose of financing RES generation support ( EEG levy , grid fees ) may breach EU competition law ( Der Spiegel , "Unfair Competition? EU Takes on German Green Energy Law" , 15.07.2013). Some 3,200 companies have applied for an exemption to the EEG levy in 2012. (See also previous article in Der Spiegel , "War on Subsidies: Brussels Questions German Energy Revolution" , 29.05.2013.) According to Der Spiegel , the Commission will launch on Wednesday 17 July proc