Thomas More Institute
Europe our frontier
By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, Associate Fellow at the Thomas More Institute, Fellow at the Institut Français de Géopolitique (Paris VIII Vincennes-Saint-Denis University), author of "La Russie menace-t-elle l'Occident ?" (Choiseul, Paris, 2009). Published in partnership with "Fenêtre sur l'Europe". Available in French only.
> Living Europe - on 20/03/2006
By Hildegard von LIECHTENSTEIN, PhD in engineering. Note N° 7 available in English and in French (March 2006).
By Hildegard von LIECHTENSTEIN, PhD in engineering. After her studies of Bio-engineering and Pharmacy, she is an Approved Pharmacist, wrote her thesis on the effects of nuclear technology on the environment.
On the 8th of March 2006, the President of the European Commission José Manuel BARROSO presented a Green Paper on the “European Energy Policy”. Three months after the oil crisis provoked by Russia and very close to the Brussels European Council (24-25 March), the energy problem starts to distress the European Union, giving birth to a variety of analyses. The Commission's Green Paper opens up an interesting public debate that must be watched closely. It treats six priority domains: “an internal energy market”, “solidarity among the member states”, “durable, efficient, diverse energy sources”, “issues tied to the global warming”, “new energetic technologies and strategies” and “a common foreign energy policy”.
Now, we can ascertain that we have entered in an era of “expensive oil”, increased by the “gas war” which started last winter due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. We now can understand the important role Moscow is going to play in the energetic future of Europe. Hopefully the Commission will take the whole matter seriously. But in the article associated with the Green Paper's inauguration – published in many European journals – signed José Manuel BARROSO and Andris PIEBALGS, European Commissioner for the Energy, we can read the following astonishing lines: “Europe needs to set the framework for different low-carbon energies to thrive. For some, that might mean wind power, for some, solar power and for others, clean coal. Some member states are considering the further development of nuclear power. We do not have the luxury of promoting one energy source to the exclusion of others”. Wind power, solar power, clean coal and in the end, almost hidden, the nuclear power! What a surprising change, and what a curious denial of the truth!
The reality: this is the quality of the paper presented by Hildegard von LIECHTENSTEIN. In ten questions and ten answers,she scans the European energetic situation. The oil and the gas? We know these resources are limited: we must control its utilisation in the energy making processes. The coal? Still inexpensive, but a big pollution source. The renewable energies? Even if it is desirable to exploit all the sources and to enhance the research work in order to obtain some significant results, it is an illusion to think that wind power or solar power can cover rapidly an essential part of Europe's energetic needs. The nuclear power? Though having a bad reputation in most of the countries, reunites two major qualities: it produces low-cost energy and can assure an energetic independence of the EU countries.
We are on the eve of a century where the energy will be the most important stake on the international stage, and we cannot neglect this argument. This seventh paper of Thomas More Institute is a paper of advocacy, an appeal for realism and political courage, a vade mecum for the lucid heads.
Download below the "Note" in PDF (18 pages).