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The Energy Union Conference took place on 6 February 2015 in Riga within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Latvian Presidency organised the event in collaboration with the European Commission (EC) to encourage discussions among the Energy Ministers of the EU Member States, representatives from the EU institutions and international organisations, scientists and other energy policy-makers on this new initiative to create a European Energy Union.
"We are committed to the process of creating the Energy Union. During today`s discussions we heard your questions about what it is and when and how it should be implemented. We listened to you with great interest and our task now is to take these fully into account in the policy proposals,” said the Minister, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, in concluding the conference.
The Energy Union would provide a comprehensive approach for dealing with different challenges that range from energy security to sustainability and competitiveness. Important elements of the strategy will be solidarity, a functioning and interconnected energy market, competitive energy independence and energy efficiency, decarbonisation, innovation, research and development, as well as enhanced European energy diplomacy and governance. The Latvian Presidency would like to highlight the importance of regional governance, citing the BEMIP (Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan) as a successful example of regional cooperation. These were the main dimensions of the Energy Union Strategy discussed today in Riga.
During the conference stakeholders took part in the open session, with five panel discussions on the key elements of the Energy Union:
- supply security based on solidarity and trust;
- a competitive and integrated internal energy market;
- control of energy demand;
- decarbonisation of the EU energy mix;
- research and innovation.
The Energy Union Conference in Latvia is the first step of the Riga Process. In the near future – on 25 February – the European Commission is planning to publish its Energy Union Strategy proposals. The first formal ministerial discussion at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting will be held on 5 March. The adoption of the European Council Conclusions on the Energy Union Strategy is scheduled for 19-20 March, with the Conclusions of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council being adopted on 8 June.
