Mr. Eric Mamer:

I thank the Chairman. On fracking, the exploitation of shale gas, shale oil, etc., I wish to make it crystal clear that the treaty foresees that it is a prerogative of member states to decide what sources of energy they wish to exploit or not exploit. It is, therefore, absolutely not in the power of the Commission to inform a member state that it either must or must not exploit shale gas. There are two European countries - France and Bulgaria - which have permanent bans in place in respect of any sort of fracking. The Commission is not really in a position to answer questions on this matter. In view of the fact that different member states have different attitudes to the opportunities presented by the exploitation of shale gas, the Commission made a recommendation to member states - on the same day on which it adopted the 2030 communication - on what it believes to be best practice when it comes to the overall environmental assessment of possible shale gas and oil exploration and exploitation. I should actually refer to the possible use of fracking technology because it is that on which the recommendation focuses in addition to what should be done when specific projects are considered in terms of environmental impact assessment, the provision of information to the public on the sorts of chemicals that might be used, risk assessment, etc.

It is clear that this is a matter for national debate. We are not at all saying that shale gas is the solution to Europe's problems. The Commissioner for Energy has stated that in view of declining North Sea reserves and the EU's increasing dependency on energy - particularly gas - from external sources, there is scope for well-managed demonstration projects in areas where there is acceptance for such projects among the locals in order to determine both the potential of shale gas and the conditions under which it might be exploited at a later stage.

We are not in the business of telling member states whether they should go for nuclear energy, shale gas, etc., and this should be an entirely Irish discussion.

There is an issue of EU responsibility for control and distribution of costs. On the same day we adopted the framework, we also adopted the first ever report on the price or cost of energy in Europe, based on the best available data at our disposal, both for households and for industry. We considered the energy component, transmission and distribution costs and taxes. I invite committee members to read the report as it demonstrates clearly that apart from gas for industry, where there is a link between declining consumption and declining costs, for electricity in households and industry, as well as gas for households, consumption has stayed relatively flat but costs have been increasing. That is not because the energy component is more costly but a result of transmission and distribution costs, as well as related investments. In certain instances, taxes have increased. We have put these findings squarely in front of national governments at the Council-----