Brussels, 02/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - As regards energy policy, and in the light of the “challenges” for the EU posed by the crisis in Ukraine and tension with Russia - like, moreover, the decarbonisation of the European energy system - the Italian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers (which runs until December 2014) has set out four closely linked themes as the focus of its programme: the 2030 framework for climate and energy policy; the security of supply; completion of the internal market; and external energy policy. Italy's minister for economic development, Federica Guidi, informed the European Parliament's industry committee of these four themes on Tuesday 2 September.
The top priority of the Italian Presidency's programme is to promote an agreement on the 2030 energy/climate framework at the European Council on 23-24 October. The European energy ministers will focus on this issue during an informal meeting on 6 October, on the basis of the framework proposed by the European Commission in January - accompanied by a binding objective of a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 and an objective of at least 27% of renewables in the EU's primary energy cluster - and on the basis of the communication published in July proposing a 30% improvement in energy efficiency.
Energy savings are a “key factor” for energy security (another of the Italian Presidency's top objectives), said Guidi, who wants to promote an in-depth debate on the strategy for the EU's energy security - a strategy that was presented by the Commission at the end of May (see EUROPE 11090), taking into account the initiative adopted in May by the energy ministers of the G7 countries (see EUROPE 11073 and 11095).
Rome, which has a privileged energy relationship with Russia, as can be seen in its close involvement in the South Stream gas pipeline project, makes gas the focus of the European strategy on energy security, as it does with climate protection. “Gas will continue to play a role in the decarbonisation of the EU”, Guidi said on Tuesday, calling also for “the external dimension of the EU's energy policy to be enhanced” in order to ensure good relations with third countries that supply gas.
The Italian Presidency wants to promote the opening of the southern gas corridor in order to link the resources of the Caspian region to the European market, and it wants to focus on Euro-Mediterranean relations by highlighting the development of hydrocarbon interconnection and exploitation projects in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Rome also wants to boost the use of LNG. (EH)