On Wednesday 30 April, the experts in the Council of the European Union’s Energy Working Group discussed the first version of the Polish Presidency’s conclusions on energy security, which state that Europe “needs to reduce its strategic dependence on a limited number of third country suppliers in sensitive sectors, including critical raw materials”.
This initial exchange was described by one source as “not very dynamic”. Most delegations had read the document just before the meeting and had therefore not yet been able to outline their position in any detail. Trading is expected to resume at a technical level on Thursday 8 May. The aim of the Polish Presidency is to adopt these conclusions at the Energy Council to be held on 16 June.
The document welcomes several recent European Commission initiatives, such as the presentation of the Action Plan for Affordable Energy (see EUROPE 13588/3), and highlights the work undertaken in the EU Council to extend and revise the regulation on gas storage (see EUROPE 13620/5).
It also calls on the European Commission to “speedily assess which parts of the existing energy acquis may be subject to simplification under the ‘omnibus’ programme” and, in the first quarter of 2026, to present “initiatives and instruments aimed at increasing energy efficiency”.
The document also asks the European Commission to put forward legislative proposals to speed up the granting of permits for energy infrastructure, storage and renewables, and to “assess the financing needs for new energy infrastructure projects”.
To see the document: https://aeur.eu/f/gme (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)