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BRUSSELS: EU policymakers on Wednesday unveiled plans to ensure the free flow of gas and power to every corner of the 28-member bloc, hailing it as the biggest energy shake-up for more than half a century.

Since the establishment in 1951 of the Coal and Steel Community, the precursor of the European Union, advocates of transnational unity have demanded closer cooperation on energy.

The European Commission, the EU executive, says the clash with Russia over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region means there is the strongest case yet to pool resources across the EU, which relies on Moscow for around a third of its energy.

But national governments have always jealously guarded their own control over energy decisions, largely because of strategic needs and their stance on the environment.

"It's the biggest energy project since the Coal and Steel Community," Maros Sefcovic, European Commission vice president responsible for energy union, said. "It's a very deep energy transition."

Europe's energy union strategy includes a raft of measures and will be followed by legislative proposals.

It aims to improve infrastructure to share available supplies across borders, partly with EU money; to end regulated pricing, increase the number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and enforce existing EU law on competition.

The Commission is also calling on member states and companies to consult it when negotiating with big suppliers, such as Russia, in an attempt to end Moscow's strategy of divide and rule that has allowed some countries to secure more favourable deals than others.

Previous attempts to persuade firms or nations to divulge information to the Commission have met stiff resistance, but Sefcovic said he was convinced member states could be persuaded of the mutual benefit in the current geopolitical context.

Russia's conflict with Ukraine has been complicated by a row over gas pricing, which last year led Russian producer Gazprom to cut off supplies to Kiev.

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EU energy union could save 40 billion euros per year: Commission

This year the European Union is in unprecedented ferment over energy issues. Little more than a decade ago, energy was an afterthought for EU policymakers. But the twin concerns of energy security and climate change have alteredthis thinking.

Increased tension with Russia, Europes largest energy supplier, has come as Europes domestic energy reserves are dwindling. The voices calling for a real, robust energy union have grown louder. But these voices are working with a significant subsidiarity handicap: the EU treaties make clear that energy choices are a national issue.

It was in this context that the European Commission adopted its keenly-awaited strategy on energy union yesterday (25 February). Maro efcovic, the European Commission vice-president for energy union, called it the most ambitious energy project since the European Coal and Steel Community.

Many were calling for bold action. Two ideas in particular were floated which, while controversial, could represent a significant challenge to Vladimir Putins attempts to weaponise energy policy: strict energy governance, and common gas purchasing.

There have been calls notably from the ALDE group of liberals for a system of energy governance modelled on the economic semester. This, it is claimed, would prevent member states taking national decisions to the detriment of the EU energy system as a whole such as Viktor Orbns special energy deals with Putin or Angela Merkels sudden decisions to scrap nuclear energy or abruptly change subsidies for renewables. The Commission has been trying to do this without changing the EUs treaties, and will undertake an annual state of the energy union review, starting this year.

Politicians, stakeholders and environmentalists responded to today's energy union strategy positively but with a degree of scepticism about its real impact.

Experts say specifics in today's package could undermine the EU's 2030 emissions reduction commitment by at least 5%.

Member states can make their own choices, but they also have to comply with the climate and energy policy objectives, said Miguel Arias Caete, the European commissioner for climate action and energy. We will make sure we have the provisions established by the Commission in order to make governance very efficient. Monitoring, reporting and verification of the annual planning of the member states will be very closely monitored by the Commission, and we will propose, as in the European semester, the recommendations needed to fulfill the objectives.

Another suggestion for strengthening Europes energy hand came from Poland common gas purchasing with third countries. efcovic is thought to support this idea, but in the face of flat rejection from Western Europe and threats from Norway, the Commission has relegated it to a mere suggestion for a study.

Conventional wisdom says this is merely cosmetic, and that Western Europes steadfast objection means such a proposal for common gas purchasing will never see the light of day. However, efcovic gave hope to Warsaw during his press conference yesterday when he said we believe it will be possible to propose such a mechanism on a voluntary basis. The East-West division came clearly into focus when Arias Caete jumped in to dampen down expectations, stating that such an arrangement would be impossible without many, many conditions.

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Modest measures for promoting EU energy union

PRESS RELEASE: WILEX AG: WILEX subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma receives research grant from the European Union

DGAP-News: WILEX AG / Key word(s): Financing WILEX AG: WILEX subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma receives research grant from the European Union

2015-02-25 / 07:03

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PRESS RELEASE

WILEX subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma receives research grant from the European Union

- Heidelberg Pharma is part of the European Training Network MAGICBULLET consortium for the development of new chemistry-driven concepts for anti-tumour therapies

Munich, Germany, 25 February 2015 - WILEX AG (ISIN DE000A11QVV0 / WL6 / FSE) today announced that its subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma has been awarded a research grant from the European Union as part of the European Training Network (ETN) MAGICBULLET. The European Union supports promising research projects within the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and has granted ETN MAGICBULLET a total of EUR 3.75 million for years 2015-2018 for the development of new chemistry-driven concepts for anti-tumour therapies.

Heidelberg Pharma is part of the ETN MAGICBULLET consortium which consists of seven academic research groups from Germany, Italy, Hungary and Finland, and two pharmaceutical companies (Heidelberg Pharma, Germany and Exiris, Italy). The aim of the consortium is to develop and validate an array of new peptide-drug conjugates combining tumour-specific peptides with potent cytotoxic drugs. Heidelberg Pharma's task is to identify, modify and validate tumour-specific peptide-drug conjugates based on its expertise in linker technology as well as to investigate the biological activity in vitro and in vivo.

Dr Jan Schmidt-Brand, CEO/CFO of WILEX AG and Managing Director of Heidelberg Pharma GmbH, commented: "We are pleased that MAGICBULLET was selected for the HORIZON 2020 programme and we look forward to an intensive and fruitful collaboration with our MAGICBULLET partners. Peptide-drug conjugates are promising new concepts for the therapy of different tumour types."

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PRESS RELEASE: WILEX AG: WILEX subsidiary Heidelberg Pharma receives research grant from the European Union

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt

BRUSSELSThe European Union threw down a hurdle to General Electric Co.s planned $17 billion acquisition of France-based Alstom SAs energy unit Monday, saying it would open an in-depth investigation into whether the deal might stifle competition.

The European Commission, the EUs top antitrust authority, said it was concerned that the transaction, announced last June, might limit competition in the market for heavy-duty gas turbines, which are mainly used in gas-fired power plants. It will make a final decision on the merger by July 8.

Such in-depth probes arent unusual and often dont affect proposed tie-ups if the regulator decides to clear the deal unconditionally or require limited asset sales. But the move still adds months to the timeline and injects fresh uncertainty into GEs GE, -0.16% biggest ever deal.

Alstom ALSMY, -2.17% ALO, -0.09% Chief Executive Patrick Kron said last month he expected only limited overlaps where European regulators might require that the company divest operations for competitive reasons.

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.

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The Wall Street Journal: EU opens probe into GE, Alstom deal

(02-24 11:27)

The European Union opened an in-depth probe of American conglomerate General Electric's US$14.1 billion takeover of the power division of French company Alstom fearing higher prices and less choice. The European Commission made the move Monday after an initial investigation indicates potential competition concerns in the market for heavy-duty gas turbines,'' which are used in gas-fired power plants, it said in a statement. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said her anti-competitive concerns also included less innovation in the sector.'' In international business, the European Commission wields major power since its rejection of a multinational deal has thwarted mergers and takeovers in the past, or forced companies into fundamental changes of agreement to meet EU concerns. The commission said that in one sector of the heavy duty gas turbines, the new GE-Alstom merged company would control about half the market in both Europe and the world, excluding China. GE rejected the worries and said in a statement that the gas turbine market is both global and highly competitive. We disagree with the preliminary concerns, raised by the European Commission. The commission has until July 8 to make a final decision.AP

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GE under scrutiny over Alstom deal