At their EU Council meeting on Thursday 30 May, the European energy ministers took stock of the first two years of the REPowerEU strategy, which was designed to end Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Today I was able to report to the EU Member States that the REPowerEU plan is working. We have reduced the share of gas imports from Russia from 45% to 15% in the last year”, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, was pleased to report, while acknowledging that the final efforts to overcome the remaining dependencies were the most complicated.
REPowerEU. In order to put a definitive stop to imports from Russia, the Member States discussed the proposal put forward by Germany and the Czech Republic to set up a High Level Group. It would be overseen by the European Commission and would aim to define the obstacles and practical solutions to phase-out Russian fossil fuels.
This initiative has been welcomed by a majority of countries. “Nobody has explicitly opposed this proposal, and twelve Member States have explicitly come out in favour, asking for specific guidelines from the European Commission”, said Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten.
She announced that a debate at technical level would take place in June within the Committee of Ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper).
The ministers also discussed the end of the agreement on the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine, scheduled for the end of the year, with Commissioner Simson reaffirming that there will be no talks on extending this agreement.
Sustainable electricity grids. The ministers also validated the conclusions of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU on the development of sustainable electricity grid infrastructure and its planning at European level, as previously adopted by the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) (see EUROPE 13414/7).
As requested by the Belgian Presidency, the text was not reopened at this ministerial meeting.
“Of course, this work is not yet complete”, admitted Ms Van der Straeten. "There are still sensitive issues, and work on this document must continue with concrete follow-up, for example on the question of the importance of interconnections, but also on the rapid granting of permits”.
To see the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/cgq
Green Deal. Discussions then focused on the objectives of the European Green Deal, put in place under the current legislature, and on the political will to continue the EU’s decarbonisation efforts.
The Commission has specifically informed the Member States about the revision of the final Energy-Climate Plans, the final version of which is expected on 30 June (see EUROPE 13419/9).
“Our assessment of the draft plans shows that we are on the right track. Member States are planning to deploy more renewable energies (...) and diversify energy supplies, but more needs to be done to ensure that we collectively meet our targets and create an environment conducive to investment”, explained Kadri Simson.
Support for Europe’s coal-mining regions. At the initiative of the Czech and Slovak delegations, the ministers were informed of the need to strengthen the just transition in regions producing coal, peat, lignite and oil shale.
Among the other topics discussed, the European Commission gave an update on preparations for winter, and also gave assurances that it was doing its utmost to speed up the procedures for adopting capacity remuneration mechanisms.
At midday, the ministers discussed the importance of energy communities and citizen participation in the energy transition.
The Polish, Czech and Hungarian delegations also shared an information note on the terms and conditions of the next European Hydrogen Bank auction (see EUROPE 13416/8), aimed at ensuring fair competition for all investors.
The German, French and Dutch delegations presented information on the prevention of biofuel fraud. The Commission indicated that it is going to take up this issue and take action with additional tools that will be available in the coming months.
Hungarian priorities. Finally, the Hungarian delegation presented its priorities for pursuing EU energy policies when it takes over the Presidency of the EU Council in July. On this point, Ms Van der Straeten said she was delighted that Hungary had announced its intention to continue the work it had begun on developing electricity grids. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)