mr president it is almost uncanny how history has repeated itself over the interruption of gas supplies through ukraine at this time of year
yet we should not be surprised for when better to catch people's attention especially during a cold spell
it is not difficult to figure out the russia agenda in all this but i was particularly struck by the idea floated in the press that gazprom urgently needs to make a deal based on higher gas prices linked to last year's oil price high before those gas prices come down following the oil price fall
be that as it may the implications remain the same as three years ago
eu member states are at risk of over-dependence on gas imports from one dominant supplier
it is no longer good enough to say that we need russian gas and they need our hard currency so the trade is safe
we need to take action to safeguard security of supply
member states must bite the bullet and be prepared to pay for adequate gas storage facilities and stocks
agreeing a level of how many days <unk> constitutes a reasonable reserve would be a good start
diversifying supplies is another obvious step to take and the construction of lng terminals around europe is a good example
looking at the nord stream and nabucco pipeline projects in a more favourable light seems logical
we need to redouble efforts to improve efficiency and increase conservation of energy in electricity consumption both in industrial use and domestic consumption
there are huge savings to be achieved
above all we need to rebalance our energy mix and to do so with the twin objectives of security of supply and climate change policy
by increasing the share of electricity from renewables nuclear energy and clean coal technology we can do both but each of these options takes time to deliver and in the mean time we must tackle improving energy efficiency with urgency and imagination
