Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the Spring European Summit on Thursday 17 March, heads of state welcomed the presentation by the European Commission in February of the second raft of measures for the planned Energy Union, a package on 'gas security.'
The heads of state “recalled the importance of a fully-functioning and interconnected energy market” and in its conclusions document, the Summit “encouraged the legislators to proceed with work on the proposals to reinforce the EU energy security as a matter of priority on the basis of its previous conclusions. and the relevant strategies endorsed by the European Council” (see EUROPE 11279).
The package of draft legislation on gas security includes proposals to increase solidarity among EU member states and regional cooperation in the face of risks of breakdowns in the supply of gas to improve transparency about intergovernmental energy agreements between EU member states and non-EU countries, along with gas contracts (see EUROPE 11491).
Following on from the international climate agreement reached at COP21 at the end of 2015, the European Summit's conclusions document “underlines the EU's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions domestically and to increase the share of renewable energies and improve energy efficiency as agreed by the European Council in October 2014.” (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)