On Monday 16 June, Europe’s energy ministers failed to unanimously adopt Council conclusions on energy security, as the Polish Presidency of the EU Council would have wished.
Hungary and Slovakia strongly opposed the text, while the other 25 Member States supported it. This means that the text can be adopted, but only as Presidency conclusions.
Since the publication of the European Commission’s ‘roadmap’ for abandoning Russian fossil fuels on 6 May (see EUROPE 13634/1), the two countries have been opposed to any mention of this communication in the conclusions on energy security (see EUROPE 13636/21).
The final text corresponds to the latest draft dated 12 June (see EUROPE 13659/10), and “takes note of” the “roadmap” and the Commission’s intention to present the proposals arising from this initial communication.
According to a Polish diplomat, this point is again being debated in the light of Israel’s recent attack on Iran, which has raised new fears about security of supply in Europe.
This is certainly Hungary’s position, with its Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, declaring on X that “energy policy is a national competence, which jeopardises our sovereignty and our energy security”. “In view of the escalation in the Middle East, we have proposed that no such plan be put forward”, he added.
Simplification of the ‘methane’ regulation. In addition, the final conclusions still mention the possibility of simplifying existing legislative measures in the energy field, giving the simplification of the ‘methane’ regulation as an example.
In the afternoon, the ministers discussed this very point, as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia published a note setting out their recommendations for a simplification of this regulation aimed at reducing methane emissions (see EUROPE 13658/6).
At a press conference, the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, said he heard the concerns of these countries, but did not consider it necessary to “reopen” the text. “We believe that the problems that exist can be resolved pragmatically within the framework of the legal controls that we currently have”, he explained.
To see the conclusions go to https://aeur.eu/f/hcw (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)