Luxembourg (EFE) future crises and also to accelerate investments in renewable energy.
“I hope that the ministers reach an agreement today because we need it. We need an electricity market that is more resilient in the face of possible ‘shocks’ and we also need more investment in renewables, which will benefit consumers, households and companies”, said the Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson, upon arrival at the meeting of ministers of the branch in Luxembourg.
Estonia emphasized that this agreement is necessary “as soon as possible” and pointed out that the Twenty-seven must now move “from ‘shock’ mode and emergency solutions” to “medium and long-term solutions” for their electrical system.
“I think this is a necessary step,” defended the head of Energy of the community Executive, who will also convey to the ministers the message that “vigilance should not be lost” even though the gas reserves in the block are at “historic levels ” and hydrocarbon prices are currently lower than those reached a year ago.
The objective of today’s meeting of energy ministers is to agree on their negotiating position on the reform of the electricity market, which will then have to be negotiated with the European Parliament, a phase that will fall mainly during the rotating presidency of the EU headed by Spain.
In this sense, the Spanish Vice President of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, acknowledged that the reform of the electricity market is a “complicated, dense and extensive” file, but pointed out that reaching an agreement today “would make it easier to resolve this very important proposal ( …) before the end of the year”.
“We all agree on the need to accelerate the transformation of our energy system, guaranteeing security of supply, facilitating solutions without greenhouse gases, non-fossil solutions and guaranteeing an attractive space for energy investors,” he said.
However, he also remarked that there are “different critical aspects” that are still “open” in the negotiation between ministers, related, for example, to the role that contracts for difference or capacity mechanisms should play.
Along these lines, the Spanish vice-president stated that “one of the most controversial issues” at the meeting will be “accommodating” in the final text Poland’s claims regarding the role of coal in the electricity market of the future in a way that “does not security of supply is put at risk and at the same time ensure that conflicting price signals are not given to the markets”.
The latest draft on which the countries are trying to close an agreement contemplates, in favor of Poland, the possibility that subsidies can be allocated to coal-fired electricity generation plants to provide coverage for the system and guarantee security of supply when renewables do not reach.
Teresa Ribera: “energy has opened a key door in the will to build Europe”
The Spanish Vice President Teresa Ribera said that the European construction has found a “key door” in the field of energy through which the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU will focus its work with three main axes: security of supply, attractiveness for investment and decarbonization.
“It comes at a particularly interesting time due to the fact that it is the last full presidency before the European Parliament elections” in June 2024, which are “key to the future of Europe” because “we are at stake as much more Europeanists as we want to be or in what way the pandemic or the war are undermining that will to build Europe”, said Ribera.
The Spanish Minister for the Ecological Transition also made these statements upon her arrival at a council of Energy holders of the Twenty-seven held in Luxembourg in which, among other points, Spain will present the main lines of the semi-annual rotating presidency of the Council of the EU who will take office on July 1.
“We must continue to build Europe. It is the best answer, as we have seen in the year 2022, and it will be what we bet on. And in the field of energy, suddenly, a key door has opened in this will to build Europe”, Ribera summarized.
The third vice president of the Government of Spain added that “energy is key from the economic, industrial, innovation and employment point of view, but also from the point of view of the well-being of European citizens”, and opted to try to close in these six months the updating of the energy system.
The Member States will try to agree today on a common approach on the current reform of the electricity market that they will have to negotiate later with the European Parliament, with the aim of accelerating the deployment of renewables and promoting long-term contracts that yield affordable prices.
“It is the best response for the well-being of today, but also for the well-being of tomorrow in the field of decarbonization”, summarized Ribera, who also referred to the need to work in these months in the field of cooperation and geopolitics , especially in the supply of critical raw materials as a lever to boost the zero-emissions industry.
“The major proposals of the Spanish Presidency will revolve around security of supply, attractiveness for investors and decarbonisation,” concluded the vice-president.