Brussels, 25/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - The first sitting of the Energy Council under the Hungarian Presidency, chaired by the Hungarian national development minister, Tamás Fellegi, will focus on the draft EU regulation on integrity and transparency on the energy markets.
Integrity and transparency on the markets. In a public debate, the Council will take note of a progress report on the draft EU regulation on energy market transparency and integrity unveiled in December 2010 by the European Commission to prevent speculation and insider trading on wholesale markets. The draft regulation introduces a system for monitoring wholesale energy markets, based on surveillance at EU level by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
2011-2020 strategy. The Council is expected to publish a conclusions document on the new 10-year strategy unveiled by EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger in November 2010, the corollary of the energy infrastructure legislation. The strategy sets out the EU's short, medium and long-term energy priorities for 2011-2020 which are divided into six sections: internal market, energy efficiency, infrastructure, research and innovation in low-carbon technology, EU energy sources and electricity generation and foreign relations. The document will be used in connection with the spring European Council in Brussels on 25 March.
European semester. Like other groups of EU ministers, the Energy Council has been asked to contribute to the European semester, a new round of economic policy coordination as part of the EUROPE 2020 strategy for growth and jobs. The ministers will examine the EUROPE 2020 strategy's two energy targets, namely increasing energy efficiency by 20% and boosting the proportion of energy generated by renewables. (E.H./transl.fl)