The resolution further notes that new LNG capacity being developed in the Mediterranean could form the basis of an infrastructure hub.
The MEPs call for the prioritisation of gas production in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Caspian regions, as well as for interconnecting landlocked countries in Central and South-East Europe to these new capacities in order to diversify supply sources in those regions.
They note that this will allow for competition between gas from multiple sources and will replace imports of natural gas volumes under oil-indexed contracts, thus increasing Member States’ bargaining power and stresses that no single energy source will ever fulfil the EU’s energy needs and that diversity in the case of both domestic and foreign markets is essential.
MEPs stress that the development of the domestic conventional gas resources discovered in Cyprus should be actively pursued.
They also point out that significant gas reserves in the North African countries and recent discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean provide the region with an opportunity to emerge as a vibrant centre for transporting gas into Europe and believes that new LNG capacity being developed in the Mediterranean could form the basis of an infrastructure hub.
They stress the importance of finding cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable energy supply options to increase long-term security of supply for the Iberian Peninsula, Central and South-East Europe, the Baltic states and Ireland, all of which are insufficiently connected to and/or integrated with the internal energy market and deserve the full support of the EU in the name of the principle of solidarity.
Also, they highlight the need to support the most vulnerable countries that continue to remain energy islands, such as Cyprus and Malta, in order to diversify their sources and routes of supplyand stresses, in this context, that LNG and gas storage must contribute towards ending energy isolation of whatever kind that affects Member States and regions in the EU.
The MEPs state in the resolution that the EU strategy for the LNG must make energy supplies more secure, cut carbon emissions and deliver affordable prices.
The EP calls on the EU Commission to aim to reduce the EU’s dependency on gas in the long term by using it more efficiently and gradually phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.
MEPs highlight “the vital role of LNG and gas storage, in addition to increased efficiencies and renewable energy deployment, in reducing dependence on Russian gas.”
“Doubling the capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline could have counterproductive effects on energy security, the diversification of supply sources and solidarity among member states”, say MEPs.
They stress that “if, contrary to European interests, Nord Stream 2 were to be built, thiswould necessarily require a sound assessment of LNG terminals’ accessibility and a detailed assessment of the North-South Gas Corridor, to be able to compensate for shutting down the supply lines to Central and Eastern Europe.”
Source: InCyprus
