Brussels, 08/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 June, at their summit at Schloss Elmau, the leaders of the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) reaffirmed their “commitment to the energy security principles” and to the specific actions decided upon at their summit in Brussels in 2014, such as the G7 initiative in this field decided upon in Rome in May of the same year, and the work to identify the “vulnerabilities” of their countries' energy systems to disturbances to supply.
In the wake of the Ukrainian crisis and tensions with Russia, the G7 leaders agreed, in Brussels in June 2014, to develop a medium-term strategy to diversify their sources of supply and modernise their infrastructure (see EUROPE 11095), on the basis of the initiative prepared the month before in Rome by their energy ministers (see EUROPE 11073).
On Monday, the G7 also reiterated its support for Ukraine and “other vulnerable countries”, in their efforts to reform and liberalise their energy systems. “Energy should not be used as a means of political coercion or as a threat to security”, their conclusions stress.
Lastly, the G7 agreed to reinforce cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and to launch a new cooperation effort on the reinforcement of cyber-security in the energy sector. The G7 countries also agreed to work together and with other interested countries to increase coordination in clean energy research, stressing the importance of renewable energies and other low-carbon technologies. (Emmanuel Hagry)