EU Energy Green Paper - Dutch Views

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000553

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR D AND EUR/UBI ERIC FALLS
EUR FOR DAS BRYZA
USDOC FOR 4212/USFCS/MAC/EURA/OWE/DTCALVERT

E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: ENRG PREL ECON EUN NL
SUBJECT: EU Energy Green Paper - Dutch Views

Ref: Brussels 873


1. (U) Dutch officials are generally pleased with the main
points of the energy green paper released by the Commission
on March 8 and discussed by EU energy ministers on March 14.
On the paper's call for a common EU energy policy, officials
in both the Economics Ministry (which has the lead on energy
policy) and the foreign ministry were supportive. As a
smaller member state, the Dutch are not as jealous of their
foreign policy prerogatives at the national level as are
some of the larger EU countries and thus less concerned
about possible Commission encroachment. Moreover, the
Dutch believe that Europe can be much more effective when
speaking on energy with one voice, particularly as concerns
relations with key suppliers, such as Russia or OPEC.


2. (SBU) As a near-term practical matter, the Dutch see the
Commission's endorsement of a more unified EU energy policy
as giving a boost to their planned energy security
conference, which is to be held in The Hague either April 19-
21 or May 17-19 (dates still TBD) and which will be co-
sponsored by the USG. The Dutch have planned the conference
as a means of furthering the transatlantic dialogue on the
political implications of energy security. The invitation-
only conference will feature presentations by top-level
public and private sector leaders; its discussions are
intended to be part of the preparatory process for the U.S.-
EU summit in June. At a March 15 meeting with Ambassador
Arnall, MFA Director General for European Integration Marnix
Krop suggested that the Dutch-U.S. conference could produce
deliverables for the U.S.-EU summit which could then be fed
into G-8 discussions on the same subject.


3. (U) On the other priority areas of the green paper, the
Dutch strongly support the paper's proposal to complete and
strengthen the internal EU market; they believe that
improved internal competition will lead to both more
efficient and more resilient energy production and
distribution systems. The Dutch are against the 'national
champions' approach favored by some EU countries in
opposition to cross-border acquisitions in recent weeks,
believing that consolidation in the European energy sector,
if genuinely market-driven, will lead to stronger companies
better able to function effectively in turbulent conditions.


4. (U) Sustainable energy development and action to counter
climate change are both long-time Dutch interests -- not
surprisingly for a country with 30 percent of its territory
below sea level, on which is generated some 70 percent of
its GDP. So, too, is the paper's push for innovation in
energy technologies. One area in which Dutch preferences
may be somewhat out of sync with the Commission's is that of
diversifying the energy supply mix, where the Dutch think
that action at a regional level among neighboring countries
(as opposed to purely member state or EU-wide) would be most
efficient and appropriate. A second such reservation lies
in the Commission's call for greater solidarity among member
states in cases of supply disruptions; the Dutch do not want
their natural gas fields to be regarded as a cost-free
insurance policy for other member states and would expect
that any additional tapping of such fields in an emergency
would be done at then-prevailing, emergency-driven market
rates.

ARNALL