Brussels, 13/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - In Istanbul on Tuesday 12 July, the Mediterranean electricity and gas regulators held the 13th annual general meeting of their association, MEDREG. Based in Milan (Italy), MEDREG is made up of operators in these sectors from 20 countries of the northern, southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. With EU support, MEDREG aims to establish a harmonised legal framework in the energy sector to deal, in addition to production and distribution issues, with consumer protection, investment and external relations matters, the organisation states in a press release. At their 13th general meeting, they took note of a study on consumer issues and one on the promotion of external dialogue.
A working group reported back on its preliminary conclusions, including a draft “action plan on the investments needed in the energy infrastructure and the role of the energy regulators in developing the strategic projects”. Under the objective of establishing an “integrated framework for the gas market in the Mediterranean”, the participants carried out an examination of the gas network infrastructure and security of supply situations in the region covered by MEDREG.
The general meeting approved a new action plan for the period 2012-2014 and a “long-term strategic vision 2015-2020 to support the possible creation of an energy community in the Mediterranean” by 2020. Actively working in favour of this community, MEDREG plans to consolidate institutional relations with the competent organisations, such as the secretariat general of the Union for the Mediterranean and the stakeholders, with a view to providing valuable support for energy governance at regional level.
For this reason, the second part of the general meeting welcomed representatives of the following major partners: the Mediterranean Solar Plan, the Association of Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (Med-TSO), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the European Reconstruction and Development Bank (ERDB). (FB/transl.fl)