co Agreement and the Desertec initiative show, Turkey is an essential gateway, and in this regard I echo Mr Van Orden's point. It is critical at this time to be building greater trust and deeper ties with countries who will be our energy partners, including Middle Eastern and North African states. In relation to many of these there is a connected development issue. With Desertec the mass generation of electricity from solar power is a unique opportunity for revenue generation, which must be used for the benefit of their people also. This opportunity must not be squandered.
Unfortunately, some Member States - including my own - have not used the recent past to prepare a coherent energy strategy. My own constituency, the North West of England, has been identified as a prime area for wind power generation, and yet the UK's planning laws are an obstruction. Whilst we must look outward for future energy supplies, Member States must also make the best use of the resources and potential they already have.
Marisa Matias
(PT) Mr President, I have been listening carefully and would just like to raise three issues. The first is: what are we actually talking about when we talk about energy security and energy? Are we talking about people - people for whom we must guarantee equal access to energy and guarantee security so they are not left without energy during the winter; are we in the end talking about the power relations between great powers; or, worse still, are we using energy security and these projects, like Nabucco or Desertec, as excuses to send out messages to other regions of the world or other countries? If it is to send out messages, with what moral authority are we doing so?
The second point I would like to make is that, whenever we speak out against non-transparent transactions by foreign entities within the European market, we ask the Commission to take immediate action. I would like to know how this request of ours stands in relation to non-transparent transactions on the European market by Europeans themselv