On Monday 16 June, European energy ministers, meeting in a Sector Council configuration, will be asked to approve the conclusions of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council on energy security, as presented in the latest version published on 12 June.
It was drafted following discussions between Member States’ permanent representatives to the EU (Coreper) on 11 June, and contains only minor changes to the document published on 6 June, notably on the role of cross-border interconnections.
“We think that the text is currently well balanced and I don’t expect there to be any other documents. (...) So let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will be accepted”, explained a Polish diplomat, who pointed out that the conclusions must be adopted unanimously.
However, points of tension remain (see EUROPE 13657/10). In particular, the new version retains the reference to the ‘Methane’ Regulation as a text that could be simplified under the ‘omnibus’ procedure.
At the same time, seven Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) will be presenting an information note under ‘any other business’ setting out their recommendations for simplifying this Regulation (see EUROPE 13658/6).
These countries highlight, among other things, the difficulties encountered by external partners regarding the new obligations imposed on them when importing fossil fuels into the EU, particularly in terms of equivalence and contractual obligations.
REPowerEU ‘roadmap’. Given that the European Commission has not yet presented its legislative proposals arising from the REPowerEU ‘roadmap’ to put an end to Russian fossil fuel imports, ministers are invited by the Presidency to discuss this communication published on 6 May (see EUROPE 13634/1), as they had previously done at their informal meeting in Warsaw on 14 May (see EUROPE13639A13).
However, these proposals are expected imminently, since a spokesperson for the European Commission had indicated that they were due to be published at the beginning of June. According to several sources, these publications could finally be unveiled on 17 June.
According to the diplomat, the Commission’s future proposals are expected to be approved by a qualified majority. “I expect, as usual, debates and discussions between the Member States on various elements, and not only on legal issues, but also on all sorts of other issues. However (...), I think the necessary support will be there”, he explained.
Information from the European Commission. The Commission will also present an update on its recent assessment of the 23 finalised national energy and climate plans (see EUROPE 13658/8).
It will then present its assessment of the Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC), which provides an overview of investment needs in the EU for all stages of the nuclear life cycle, before the publication of the new edition of the PINC by the end of the year (see other news). The last report dates back to 2017.
On the fringes of the meeting, the Commission will also launch a working group on the Energy Union to promote greater convergence between Member States’ energy markets and policies.
Other items. A working lunch will also be devoted to developments in the electricity market and possible measures for greater market integration, including a proposal from the Polish Presidency for a regional approach to capacity mechanisms.
In addition to the information item on the inclusion of the regulation for the reduction of methane emissions within the ‘omnibus’ simplification procedure, other ‘miscellaneous’ items concern the contribution of biofuels to the EU’s energy and climate targets, for which a note has been submitted by Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Latvia (see other news).
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have requested an information point to call for the inclusion of protection of critical energy infrastructure among the key priorities in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see EUROPE 13658/7).
Slovenia will report on the MED9 ministerial meeting of energy and environment ministers, held on 1 and 2 June as part of Slovenia’s presidency of the MED9 group (an informal group of nine EU Mediterranean countries).
Finally, Denmark will present its work programme in the field of energy, as it takes over the Presidency of the EU Council on 1 July.
To see the agenda: https://aeur.eu/f/hbv (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)