A leading security thinktank has called for the creation of a new pan-European body to ensure continued co-operation on energy matters between the UK and the EU.
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, otherwise known as Chatham House, has proposed the establishment of an ‘Enlarged European Energy Union’ (EEEU) incorporating both the EU and non-member states, including Norway and Switzerland alongside the UK.
The report, which was published today (May 10), says that the UK should seek to maintain its membership of the EU’s internal energy market (IEM) if a trade deal between the EU and UK is not finalized within the two-year period specified by the Article 50 process.
The report says that the new body could facilitate integration of neighbouring countries’ energy markets into the IEM and agree to common environmental protection and product standards.
It could also replace the European Court of Justice as a mechanism for policing energy disputes.
The report also proposes that the new union would support the EU’s objectives of creating a Europe-wide competitive energy market and provide a forum for neighbouring countries like Norway and the UK to be involved in EU energy policymaking.
Such a mechanism would help ensure regulatory convergence between the EU and non-EU countries participating in the IEM, it says.
The report also urges the UK government to consider remaining a member of EU agencies, technical groups and to maintain regulatory dialogues with the EU. And it recommends that UK companies and trade bodies should seek remaining within EU-wide associations and forums.
The report also recommends that the UK should seek to remain in the emissions trading standard until at least the conclusion of the scheme’s third phase in 2020, given how “complicated, time-consuming and expensive” the establishment of a separate arrangement is likely to be.