Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Rawlings (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 7 May 2009.

Energy: Nabucco Pipeline

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for his very positive Answer. The European Parliament voted yesterday to designate €5 billion to environmental projects. Some €200 million will go to the Nabucco pipeline, importing gas from the Caspian, bypassing Russia. Given that in 2005 we became a net gas importer and by 2006 we had a net deficit in oil, will the Government be supporting this European Parliament proposal in Council?

Answer: My Lords, the Government have not reached a position on that yet but, as the noble Baroness will have interpreted from my opening statement, we are very much in favour of the Nabucco development and therefore welcome the fact that the European Parliament has commented on it favourably. We understand that in fact there is an element of underspend in aspects of the European budget, which could effectively be deployed to this immensely worthwhile and important project.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 710 c661
Session: 2008-09
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Austria Finance EU action EU external trade Natural gas Pipelines Turkey Caspian Sea Caspian region
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk