On the energy front, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which began on 1 January 2025, will focus on the Union’s energy security “in the broadest sense”, as described in its work programme for the next six months.
At the Energy Council meeting on 16 June, it intends to push for the adoption of EU Council conclusions on updating and strengthening the European strategy for energy security.
“We will propose a broad approach to the definition of energy security, encompassing access to energy at low prices, also for energy intensive industries, that allow to maintain the international competitiveness of EU industry and are socially acceptable(...)”, explains the new Presidency in detail.
The first sectoral Council will take place on 17 March, during which the European Energy Ministers are expected to hold a political debate on the regulation on gas storage (EU/2022/1032) (see EUROPE 13535/5), which should lead to a political agreement on 16 June.
They are also expected to discuss the energy situation in Ukraine as the winter draws to a close and the European Commission’s roadmap for putting an end to the last remaining energy imports from Russia (see EUROPE 13541/6).
The ministers are also expected to continue their discussions on the energy dimension of the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ (see EUROPE 13546/8), which will be unveiled at the end of February.
The Presidency also stresses the need to strengthen the physical and cyber security of strategic infrastructures, but also to promote public and private financing of all clean energy technologies and to ensure the supply of critical raw materials.
The Polish Presidency programme: https://aeur.eu/f/ewk
Provisional agendas for EU Council ministerial meetings in the first half of 2025: https://aeur.eu/f/exk (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)