On the Council of European energy ministers’ agenda on Monday 15 December is an initial discussion concerning the ‘grids’ legislative package presented by the European Commission on 10 December (see EUROPE 13770/4). Denmark, which holds the Presidency of the EU Council until the end of December, will seek the views of stakeholders on this dossier before handing it over to Cyprus, which takes over the rotating Presidency on 1 January 2026.
Europe’s electricity grids are one of the main bottlenecks in the continent’s energy transition. The ministers will give their first indications in preparation for the negotiations that will subsequently follow.
In particular, the new package includes a revision of the TEN-E Regulation and a proposal for a directive aimed at harmonising the framework for speeding up the licensing process.
Given the short time between the Commission’s presentation of the package and the European Council, one European diplomat believes that this discussion among ministers is not expected to be “extremely detailed“. However, the subject of grids was already raised at their informal meeting in Copenhagen on 5 September (see EUROPE 13703/1).
Cyprus has previously indicated that this package would be one of the priorities of its Presidency. At this sector-specific Council meeting, the country is expected to unveil its agenda for the coming months under ‘other business’.
Connecting Europe Facility. The ministers will also be asked to approve a partial agreement on the CEF (‘Connecting Europe Facility’), as the first agreement within the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). On 4 December, the European transport ministers backed the text as it stood (see EUROPE 13767/9). However, the compromise does not yet contain final figures. These will need to be confirmed after the MFF is adopted.
Energy security. The ministers will then hold a closed-door discussion with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the growing interaction between European energy policy and security.
The war in Ukraine and the 2022 energy crisis “have highlighted the strong interdependence between deterrence, defence and civil energy systems, and the way in which energy infrastructures are increasingly the target of physical and cyber attacks“, the Danish Presidency stressed.
This is the first meeting of its kind to explore better cooperation between the EU and NATO on a sector-specific basis.
‘Methane’ Regulation and CBAM. A series of ‘other business’ items will address topics put forward by the European Commission, such as preparations for winter 2025/2026, the status of the new Energy Union task force (see EUROPE 13769/18) and implementing the Methane Regulation.
Among other things, Poland will also brief the ministers on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and how it may affect “technical and non-commercial” imports of electricity from Ukraine to EU Member States.
The working lunch will be devoted to security of supply and European competitiveness, in the presence of Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol (see EUROPE 13765/15). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)