Riga, 17/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Meeting for an informal work session in Riga on Thursday 16 April, the European energy ministers agreed on the key role of regional cooperation in pursuing the objectives of the planned Energy Union.
“The Energy Union needs close, multi-faceted and multi-level cooperation. The Presidency considers that the regional dimension is crucial - enhanced and streamlined cooperation among the member states. This should contribute to furthering all five dimensions of the Energy Union”, the Latvian Minister for economic affairs, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, said after the session.
On the strength of the success enjoyed by the Baltic states in implementing the plan to connect up their energy markets (Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan, BEMIP), the Latvian Presidency on Thursday stressed the advantages of regional cooperation and facilitated an exchange of views on best practices and the obstacles faced in this area.
On Thursday, the ministers agreed that regional cooperation was the key to a successful implementation of the Energy Union, and that it was relevant to the five dimensions of the Energy Union and to the various geographical configurations.
The ministers also agreed that in order for regional cooperation to succeed, the EU should follow a number of principles, such as following a bottom-up approach on the basis of the real needs of the interested parties and the coordination of the national policies of the member states concerned.
Lastly, the ministers stressed the Commission's crucial role of coordination in the management and control of the regional initiatives and on the need for it to establish well-founded plans to prevent potential overlaps and to deal with specific issues such as insufficient market integration, a lack of cooperation between the regulatory authorities and legal and technical convergence.
On the basis of this debate, the Presidency will put together recommendations for the Commission for the future proposals of the European Executive for the energy policy tools of the EU.
“The Commission is doing all in its power to promote regional cooperation. We need to build on the success of the BEMIP for other regions: for example, the gas interconnection group for central and south-eastern Europe, which was created in February, for the offshore wind network in the North Sea, or for the interconnection working group in south-west Europe, which was set up in early March, aiming to connect the Iberian peninsular to the European network”, commented Energy Commissioner, Miguel Arias Cañete.
“Addressing the ministers, I stressed the Commission's commitment to working closely with the member states to create regional cooperation centres for the network managers for the management of cross-border trade in electricity and gas flows”, the Commissioner added.
Cañete also said that the Commission was studying emergency plans at regional and EU level in the event of a gas crisis (see EUROPE 11296). (Emmanuel Hagry)