Maros Sefcovic, Commission Vice-President with responsibility for the Energy Union announced on Wednesday 25 January that he would present the second State of the Energy Union report to the European Parliament meeting in mini session on 1 February, the day on which the report will be adopted.
After the first speech in November 2015 (see EUROPE 11433), this second State of the Energy Union, the far-reaching integration project launched by the Juncker Commission at the start of 2014 to enhance the EU’s energy independence will “put particular emphasis on some key political priorities for the year to come”, Sefcovic told Parliament’s industry, research and energy committee on Tuesday morning.
“One important message that the upcoming report will convey is that the Energy Union is about more than energy and climate alone. The transition we are bringing about is broader: it is about accelerating the modernisation of our entire economy. In this sense, transport also plays a key role and that is why we will be presenting two legislative packages related to low carbon mobility in 2017”, he announced.
“The transition is also about making sure that the Energy Union has a strong external dimension, to keep our leadership in climate action and to safeguard our competitiveness and interests in a rapidly changing geopolitical context”, he added.
This second State of the Energy Union will see Sefcovic embark on a second tour of member states. “Since 2017 is the ‘year of implementation’, I will use this tour to campaign and push for the swift implementation of the Energy Union, at several levels”, he stated.
The commissioner will discuss with the member states the importance of the national energy and climate plans, and ensure that drafts are presented “by the end of 2017”.
At the local level, the tour will be a good opportunity for Sefcovic “to showcase the most promising and innovative local projects at city and regional levels”. “It is important that we provide such projects with strong tail-wind and match these projects with financing. We are actively working on that, in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions. Because only when people see concrete progress on the ground will the multiple benefits of the clean energy transition become clear to all”, the commissioner added.
Previously, Sefcovic had presented a broad recapitulation of the measures in the clean energy package tabled by the Commission on 30 November 2016 to speed up the EU’s transition to a clean, decentralised energy system by promoting improved energy efficiency and renewable energy and re-designing the electricity market to ensure the active participation of consumers (see EUROPE 11679).
This package, which includes eight legislative proposals (including revised directives on energy efficiency and renewable energy and a governance framework for energy and the climate) plus proposals on financing improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings to address energy poverty, could have a “huge impact” on jobs, growth (potentially bringing GDP growth of up to 1%), investment (mobilising up to €177 billion in additional investment) and the well-being of citizens, Sefcovic argued. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)