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Treaty of Lisbon (No. 2)

The record will show that that is an absurd comment, given what I said. Article 176 also states that Union policy will"““promote the interconnection of energy networks””." That point has not been addressed much, and I hope that the Minister will say more about what is envisaged. It is an important issue for those of us who want to see more renewable energy. The example that springs to mind is our interconnector with France, which is locked into a high nuclear proportion in its energy supply, so it generates more electricity than it needs in the summer and has to export the excess using its interconnections. Such mechanisms create flexibility in the Europe-wide energy market.