On Wednesday 11 June, the Member States’ permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) did not approve the latest version of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council’s conclusions on energy security.
According to several sources, the text as it stands, which is dated 6 June, still requires a few adjustments. A new version was being drafted at the time of writing, and will land directly in front of energy ministers at the Sector Council meeting on 16 June.
The points raised at Coreper included a reference to simplifying the methane regulation via the ‘omnibus’ procedure, references to the European Commission’s ‘REpowerEU’ roadmap for moving away from Russian fossil fuels (see EUROPE 13634/1), and in particular the reference to the Versailles Declaration of 2022.
For example, the text discussed on 11 June integrates the ‘roadmap’ into one block, without any real changes, and underlines the “Commission’s intention” to present the proposals referred to in the document, together with a detailed impact assessment, “by June 2025”.
References to the Versailles Declaration will also remain unchanged.
The representatives also discussed the need for cross-border interconnections as well as the principle of technological neutrality.
For example, the text being discussed includes a paragraph on the electricity blackout in the Iberian Peninsula, stressing “the central role that energy plays in our society and the need to secure its supply, including the importance of cross-border interconnections”.
The text also adds a reference to robust, interconnected, reliable and secure energy systems, “including necessary dispatchable base-load generation”, and nuclear, in order to achieve a fully operational internal energy market.
There is then a brand new reference to the sovereign right of Member States to “explore and exploit their natural resources, in accordance with EU and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”.
The meeting also included an item on the ‘REpowerEU’ roadmap, which will be discussed by ministers at the Energy Council to be held on 16 June. Since the European Commission has not yet presented its legislative measures arising from the roadmap, the Polish Presidency is likely to concentrate on drafting questions for the ministers that relate solely to the communication unveiled on 6 May.
Read the fifth revision of the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/h9i (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)