Brussels, 20/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, continued his tour to promote dialogue with the member states on the subject of the Energy Union project, with a visit to the Dutch authorities on Wednesday 20 May.
Sefcovic is expected to meet the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and the Minister for Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp. He will also represent the EU during the ministerial meeting on the Energy Charter.
Before his visit, Sefcovic said “Energy Union cannot and shouldn't be imposed from Brussels. I am bringing the discussions to the Netherlands to get their first-hand reaction and opinion on all five dimensions of the Energy Union. The Tour is a good moment to share our findings with the Dutch government, stakeholders, business partners and citizens”.
The Energy Union dialogue tour will help to underpin the first report on the progress made by the Energy Union initiative that the Commission will present to the European Parliament and Council in the second half of 2015. It will be an important tool for monitoring the progress accomplished at European, national and regional levels with regard to implementing this Juncker Commission priority project.
On 18 May last, Sefcovic drew up the balance sheet (see EUROPE 11316) of the initiatives carried out at European level towards the practical implementation of the Energy Union. This included the strategic framework presented last February (see EUROPE 11262). (Emmanuel Hagry)