R16 A5: ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE: Towards a truly interconnected and sustainable energy market

Since the creation of the European Union, energy has been a crucial aspect of
the European integration process, to the point that two of the three founding
Treaties revolve around the energy sector. In Articles 114 and 194 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union it is stated that Union policy on
energy shall aim, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, to ensure
security of energy supply in the Union and promote the interconnection of energy
networks. The European Union (EU) also believes that the promotion and
protection of human rights around the world is a legitimate concern of the
international community. The EU is bound by its Treaty to promote human rights,
democratization and development.

Currently, the European energy market is regulated according to the TEN-E
regulation, which allows the Union to meet its core energy objectives by laying
down rules for identifying and the developing Projects of Common Interest
(PCIs). These will ensure the interoperability of trans-European energy
networks, the functioning of the internal energy market, the security of supply
and the integration of renewable forms of energy.

Despite this, however, the current energy markets in Europe are still very
regionalized. In part, this is due to a lack of energy infrastructure connecting
Member States. Improving the interconnectivity of the energy market has several
benefits: improved security supply, increased efficiency and increased
competitiveness. This aligns well with the energy strategy that EU has stated
previously, which is based on the pillars of securing an expanding supply of
energy from both domestic and foreign sources, developing a more competitive
internal energy market, and encouraging and supporting environmental protection
and development of clean and renewable energy sources. Additionally, the new
energy market of the EU is expected to encourage diversification and flexibility
to react to market conditions across the countries. It also provides a more
powerful bargaining position for European energy companies when sourcing energy
in global markets, since there is a larger range of options available with
regard to supply routes and there is better access to customers.

It is acknowledged that the EU has committed to comply to standards of democracy
and to support human rights in foreign relations, in accordance with the
founding principles of the Union itself, that is the principles of liberty,
democracy and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of
law. Given its current dependence on multiple energy suppliers, however, the
EU’s ability to promote its interests and values risks to be limited when energy
imports are supplied by countries with different values, even countries that
violate human rights. Human rights are considered of vital importance to the EU,
but when it comes to energy imports suddenly not.

While the Treaty on the European Union states that foreign policy should
'consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law, [and] human rights', the
European Union has been criticised for putting its needs for energy imports
before the aforementioned values: in accord with a study by the NGO Freedom
House, Norway is the only country out of the EU’s main oil and gas suppliers to
meet international standards of democracy, unlike the remainder (Nigeria,
assessed as “partly free”, and Russia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria,
Qatar which are defined as authoritarian states). Moreover, some if not most of
these countries have been known to violate human rights, in the energy sector,
but outside of that as well. By importing energy from these countries, these
regimes profit from European money, which does nothing to stop the abuse of
human rights by these regimes. However, it is possible to change the EU energy
market. For example, the European Parliament has instated several sanctions
against Russia and is debating issuing even heavier sanctions, but is yet to
accept an energy boycott at the moment of writing. Clearly, it is possible for
countries in and outside the EU to take action against authoritarian governments
when it comes to upholding our values, including the respect for (fundamental)
human rights.

Not only would the European Union benefit from an increased energy independence
in reference to human rights and democracy, it would also strengthen energy
security and contribute profitably to the project of decarbonisation of the
energy sector. It is time to clearly condemn dependence on energy imported from
countries with authoritarian regimes and that contribute to the violations of
fundamental human rights.

It should be noted that this resolution focuses on energy independence, and does
not directly address energy poverty, since a resolution about this was accepted
during the 2020 General Assembly. Although there is not one common definition of
energy poverty between Member States, it is generally described as a situation
in which households are unable to access essential energy services. Since energy
poverty is usually experienced or measured at the household level, it is not
directly addressed in this resolution. However, stronger and better-connected
energy infrastructure can go a long way in reducing energy poverty.The current situation does not only imply the EU is financing authoritarian regimes as well as the Russian war against Ukraine, but it is also allowing Energy Companies to attain huge profits at the expense of consumers. Energy prices are rising exponentially, while fossil fuel companies are making record profits. Governments spend millions of tax money on subsidizing them. At the same time, the increasing inflation makes basic needs a luxury, while wages are drastically losing value. At this moment, many people cannot pay for their basic needs, don’t know how to pay their energy bills and homelessness is on the rise.

The economic system is deeply rotten, providing more and more money for the richest companies that massively destroy our planet and human lives, while the majority of peoples‘ living situations become more precarious than ever and energy poverty spiking dramatically among countries. Although there is not one common definition of energy poverty between Member States, it is generally described as a situation in which households are unable to access essential energy services. This can only be tackled by a drastic revolution of our energy system. Only by phasing out fossil fuels by 2030 and massively increasing subsidies, jobs and resources in renewable energies, the earth overheating can be limited, while at the same time ensuring a democratization of the energy system and the European independence from authoritarian regimes that are a serious threat to human lives and human rights. Moreover, stronger and better-connected energy infrastructure can go a long way in reducing energy poverty.

The Federation of Young European Greens, with regards to the goals expressed in
the EU Green Deal, calls on the EU and the governments of Member States to:

1. Develop a legislative and policy framework to create a more interconnected
   European energy market to assist and support the energy transition towards
   renewable sources, with the aim of further improving storage and transfer
   capacity and reducing costs and therefore prices in order to achieve
   energy independence, by:
   1. Granting the European Parliament, Commission and Council the
      legislative authority to regulate the energy market and energy
      infrastructure supranationally through EU legislation;
   2. Initiating the grounds for legislation to regulate the international
      European energy market and improve supranational connection between
      energy markets of Member States, for example by establishing an
      independent body to compile and assess the current bilateral energy
      trade agreements between Member States and third countries, and to
      assess the deficits and strengths in the energy infrastructure of
      each Member State;

2. Based on this framework, to implement and develop an interconnected and
   improved energy infrastructure in Europe, as achieving this is an
   essential step to ensure a functional and efficient European energy
   market, as well as a necessity for more sustainable energy supply, by:
   1. Investing in and facilitating the building of more energy
      infrastructure in and between Member States with significant
      infrastructure deficits to enable improved storage and sharing of
      energy, such as but not limited to flexible power grids, better
      demand-response technology, electric vehicle charging, and energy
      storage;
   2. Investing in improving energy infrastructure where it already
      exists;
   3. Implementing the connection of energy infrastructure across Member
      States in order to facilitate the creation of a European energy
      network;
   4. Investing in and stimulating research on sustainable technologies
      such as, but not limited to, energy reduction, energy storage and
      energy production;
   5. Offering targeted assistance and investment support to ensure energy
      infrastructure has similar quality across Member States.

With regards to the violation of human rights by the governments of nations such
as, but not limited to, the Russian Federation, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, calls on the EU and the governments of Member States to:

1. Condemn in the strongest terms the violation of human rights by
   authoritarian governments of energy-exporting nations;

2. Based on these violations of human rights to aim for independence from
   importing energy from these nations via the ending of current energy trade
   agreements as soon as possible;

3. Henceforth ensure that any future energy trade agreement is contingent to
   a set of minimal standards including but not limited to respect of human
   rights and rule of law wherein:
   1. Nations that breach the most egregious violations of human rights
      will no longer be considered as viable options to import energy
      from, whereas
   2. Nations that fall short of meeting the minimal standards yet abiding
      by a commitment to improve their respect for, among others, human
      rights and rule of law will be considered, and
   3. The assessment of the fulfilment of said criteria will be conducted
      by an independent body.