On Thursday 8 May, the EU Council’s energy experts held a working group discussion on the first revision of the Polish Presidency’s conclusions on energy security, which was consulted by Agence Europe.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for the first technical discussions on the European Commission’s Roadmap for the elimination of Russian fossil fuel imports by the end of 2027, which was presented on 6 May (see EUROPE 13634/1).
Hungary and Slovakia, countries close to Moscow, fiercely opposed the Commission’s communication, arguing that the measures envisaged would jeopardise security of supply and have a negative impact on energy prices in Europe (see EUROPE 13635/19).
The challenge for the negotiations on the Polish Presidency’s conclusions – due to be adopted at the EU ‘Energy’ Council on 16 June – is therefore to ensure that the Commission’s Roadmap and the various forthcoming legislative proposals for abandoning Russian fossil fuels are mentioned.
In this first revision of the Presidency’s initial proposal (see EUROPE 13631/11), reference is indeed made to it, “welcoming” this Roadmap “which sets out the EU-wide action plan for an effective and coordinated phase-out of Russian energy imports into the EU market”.
However, this will be difficult to negotiate, given that the EU Council’s conclusions must be adopted unanimously by the Member States.
Slovakia believes that the Commission’s Roadmap “is not a closed issue” explained an EU source, claiming that Bratislava would not accept the Polish Presidency’s conclusions as they stand, unless the Commission’s position changed in its favour. Hungary has adopted a similar position.
On a completely different point, the first revision of the Presidency conclusions specifies that any simplifications (‘omnibus’ procedure) of parts of the energy legislative framework must be able to ensure “stability and predictability in the EU regulatory framework”.
The Presidency is also adding text in square brackets to indicate that wording on energy infrastructure should follow. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)