European Institutional Changes in 2014: What is the impact on energy and environment? I. European Parliament On 22-25 May, EU voters will go to the polls to elect 751 new MEPs and decide the direction of Europe for the next five years. One new Member State Croatia has joined since the last elections in 2009. Twelve Member States will lose 1 seat each 1, and one Member State, Germany, will lose three seats, to make room for their new Croatian colleagues without surpassing the maximum number of MEPs allowed. For the first time, and in response to a request by MEPs, the European Commission has recommended political parties to nominate a candidate for the next Commission president in this election. Most parties have done so, but there is still debate over the actual impact of these nominations. Up to 50 percent of the MEPs gathering in Brussels in July to formally open the next legislature are expected to be new. This presents an opportunity to find and develop new champions, but it is also a farewell to some of the current players. Moreover, the difficult political and economic context seems to be driving citizens towards Eurosceptic movements. Recent polls indicate that candidates of the far left and right could win up to a quarter of the next Parliament s seats. An increase in Eurosceptic and populist MEPs does not automatically equate to increased influence. For one thing, the institutional set-up skews influence in favour of big political groups. Furthermore, in previous Parliaments MEPs from non-mainstream parties tended to be less present in policy discussions and less engaged on the full range of dossiers, focusing instead on specific party priorities. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see the new composition and the impact thereof. But, who is leaving and who is staying? And how likely is this to impact the energy and environment agenda moving forward? APCO has looked into the crystal ball. Political priorities for the European parties 1 : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania
The main European parties have all published their electoral manifestos in which they lay out their political priorities, and energy features prominently in all. Party of European Socialists European People s Party Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe European Green Party The Social-Democrats (PES) support a Green Europe which must regain global leadership in the fight against climate change. They call for three binding targets, i.e. reduction of carbon emissions, the increased use of renewable energy, and energy efficiency, as part of the 2030 Climate & Energy Framework. The PES also suggests financing investments in renewable energy and technology through project bonds. The European People s Party (EPP) calls for tackling climate change through more efficient use of energy and investment in renewable energy, while preserving Europe s industrial competitiveness through affordable energy prices. The EPP has committed to champion the EU energy market, as well as investments in low-carbon technologies. The European Liberals (ALDE) support the transition towards a resource-efficient and lowcarbon economy with a stronger emphasis on renewable energy that would foster job creation and reduce reliance on energy imports. ALDE recommends reducing CO2 emissions through a functioning and cost-effective Emissions Trading System (ETS), and phasing out subsidies such as those for fossil fuel production and consumption. The European Greens (EGP) call for the creation of a European Renewable Energy Community, want to stop public subsidies for fossil fuels and favour instead investment in connecting renewable energy networks, in order to improve Europe s energy security. The Greens recommend radically reforming the ETS to make it fit-for-purpose, and in the meantime favour national carbon floor pricing. They also want to phase out nuclear and coal energy production and call on banning shale gas. Current and upcoming issues at committee level For the European Parliament s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) committee, the discussion on how to end Europe s dependence on foreign energy while producing domestic energy at competitive prices will continue to be a pressing issue, and in the trade negotiations with the United States, shale gas and the price of energy will remain high on the agenda. Continuing to establish and develop networks in the energy infrastructure sector and in the information society and technology industry, including the establishment and development of trans-european telecommunications networks, will be of vital importance to complete the internal market. The reform of biofuel directives will lapse into the new committee, becoming one of the first (and most contentious) issues to be managed.
Meanwhile, the Environmental and Public Health (ENVI) committee, once dubbed as the Cinderella committee due to its low importance, has become one of the most important and influential committees of the European Parliament. It holds the power not only to set mandatory environmental standards but also to coordinate European health strategy and set European public health and sanitation campaigns. Future work for the ENVI committee will include devising a comprehensive and effective regulation concerning the safety of foodstuffs in Europe. The ENVI committee will have to work closely with the ITRE committee to promote a resource-efficient and sustainable Europe, reconciling industries with the environment. How the final composition of the ENVI committee will look moving forward will have a significant impact in terms of the pressure to draft environmentally friendly policies, which will consequently have an effect on shaping the European Union position in the COP 15 meeting in Paris. The elections might lead to a complete makeover of both the ENVI and ITRE committees, where the expected rise of Eurosceptic parties has the potential to undo much of the work done by both committees during the 7 th legislature, especially in regards to the internal market and green energy. Eurosceptic MEPs have already expressed their wish to curb the legislative powers of the European Union and increase the power of national governments over EU institutions, which could make relations between EP committees and the Council more difficult. Returning and outgoing MEPs In the ITRE committee, the current chairperson, Amalia Sartori (IT, EPP) is likely to be reelected as she holds the second place on the centre-right list in Italy s North East region. Influential MEPs including Alejo Vidal- Quadras (ES, EPP), Herbert Reul (DE, EPP), Pilar del Castillo Vera (ES, EPP), Christian Ehler (DE, EPP), will also be standing for re-election. Some key members of the committee who have indicated that they will not return include Giles Chichester (UK, ECR), Edit Herczog (HU, S&D), Judith Merkies (NL, S&D) and Fiona Hall (UK, ALDE). The current chairman of the ENVI committee, Matthias Groote (DE, S&D), is running again and will most likely get reelected to the Parliament. Key MEPs who are not seeking another term include strong Green Group members Carl Schlyter (SE, Greens) and Satu Hassi (FI, Greens) in addition to Holger Krahmer (DE, ALDE), Anne Delvaux (BE, EPP), Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (DE, S&D) and Åsa Westlund (SE, S&D). Merkies is also a member of the ENVI committee. On the other hand, vocal members such as Chris Davies (UK, ALDE), Bas Eickhout (NL, Greens), Corinne Lepage (ALDE, FR) and Eija-Riitta Korhola (FI, EPP) will be standing for reelection. II. European Commission As for the Commission, the 2014 elections will include the first indirect election of the President of the Commission and will be closely followed by policymakers and commentators. The high level of absenteeism expected (in some countries only 30% of the electorate is likely to vote) might mean that the first President of the Commission is nominated with a comparatively low citizen endorsement. The EU's 28 heads of States and governments will be tasked with proposing the new head of the EU s executive body, but they must consider the results of the European Parliament elections.
The European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE party), the European Green Party (EGP), the Party of European Left (EL), and the European Democratic Party (EDP) have all put forward nominees for the post of President of the Commission ahead of the election. The lead contenders are the candidates put forward by the two main political parties: Martin Schulz, Party of European Socialists Jean-Claude Juncker, European People s Party Other contenders include: Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Ska Keller & José Bové, Greens Alexis Tsipras, European Left The President of the European Commission should be known around mid-july and Member States will then propose candidates for the various Commission portfolios. The candidates will then need to be approved by the European Parliament during public hearings in September. These are not a foregone conclusion and in the past candidates have been withdrawn or their portfolios changed. Janez Potocnik from Slovenia is likely to seek a third mandate in the Commission college but the Environment portfolio would go to another Member State. As for energy, this is a portfolio that is growing in importance and as a consequence, we can expect it to be hotly contested. What does this mean for energy and environment? There are big energy and environment issues already waiting on the table for the new European Parliament and Commission, and who ends up where will have a significant impact. For the third European institution, the Council, as from 1 November 2014 a new system of qualified majority voting will be in place when the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force, covering also the area of energy. From now on, a qualified majority is achieved if it covers at least 55% of Member States representing at least 65% of the population of the EU.
Where the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission, the qualified majority should cover at least 72% of Member States representing at least 65% of the population. With these new rules in place, there is more room to push forward an ambitious European agenda on energy, because less Member States will have to agree. For the Parliament, the main question is around the overall composition. Populist and EU-skeptical parties are doing well in the polls, and are expected to win unprecedented support in the May elections. A fragmented new Parliament with parties that are against European integration does not bode well e.g. for moving towards more integrated energy markets or the free trade agreement that the EU is currently negotiating with the United States. For the Commission, though members are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state, it is still important which Commission portfolio ends up with which Member State, and the importance of a given Commissioner very much depends on his or her portfolio, with that of e.g. energy more prestigious than the recently-created climate change. Keep up with the 2014 institutional changes APCO s Brussels team is providing constant news and analysis on the 2014 European Parliament elections as well as the European Commission changeover on our Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/epelections - come join us to keep tabs of who is running again, what issues are flagged in campaign manifestos, and how the outcome is likely to influence the policy agenda both for energy and environment issues and beyond. Who votes when? 22-25 May 2014: Elections for European Parliament 22 May: Netherlands, UK 23 May: Czech Republic (1 st day), Ireland 24 May: Cyprus, Czech Republic (2 nd day), France (overseas regions), Italy (first day), Latvia, Malta, Slovakia 25 May: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy (2 nd day), Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Luxembourg Allocation of Seats in the European Parliament Per Member State Source: European Parliament 2014 APCO Worldwide Inc. All rights reserved.