Dominique Ristori Editorial on the DG Energy Newsletter February 2015,
released 01-03-2015
I am delighted to announce that the Energy Union
is on track! On 25th February, the European Commission unveiled
its strategy for a European Energy Union, alongside a 15-point action plan. DG
Energy will play a central role in delivering this action plan.
February also saw a major achievement – the
inauguration of the Santa Llogaia – Baixàs power line between France and Spain,
which doubles the electricity interconnection capacity between the two
countries. This is a step towards achieving Europe’s 10% electricity
interconnection target by 2020 – a target which we have reviewed our progress
on this month and must boost our efforts towards.
We have also been moving forward with developing
regional energy infrastructure with the first meeting of the Central East South
Europe Gas Connectivity High Level Group in Sofia as well as the first meeting
of the Advisory Council on the Southern Gas Corridor.
Relations with our stakeholders have been high
on the agenda – the month started with a meeting in Riga which gathered EU
Energy Ministers, members of the European Parliament and relevant stakeholders
to discuss Energy Union; we’ve been busy analysing ways to integrate Heating
and Cooling into Europe’s energy transition with a conference in Brussels; and
we held a High Level round table on stakeholder experiences in implementing
measures to create Smart Cities.
In the field of nuclear, safety is always our
priority. This month, the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Nuclear
Safety agreed ways to improve the safety of nuclear power plants which aim to
prevent nuclear accidents and mitigate their consequences on the population.
New Ecodesign rules to boost the energy
efficiency of cooking appliances came into force this month, just as Eurostat
released statistics showing that our energy consumption in Europe has fallen to
levels seen in the early 1990s – encouraging news for energy efficiency! Not
only do energy efficiency measures help reduce our energy consumption, but they
help reduce our electricity bills.
Why don’t you have a look at our latest
infographic to see how EU rules are saving you money, and find out a few energy-saving
tips?
