Energy security, nuclear industry on Romania's agenda at EU Energy Council

Energy security, the importance of the nuclear sector, the development of indigenous energy sources, and the energy situation of the Republic of Moldova were some of the topics approached by Romanian Minister for Energy Razvan Nicolescu in his speech at the meeting of the Council of EU Energy Ministers in Luxembourg on Friday.

"We had a very good discussion on the Commission's Communication on safety energy ahead of the European Council [June 27-28], where the heads of state and government will re-approach the topic. We considered the Commission's Communication a very good basis for talks. We believe there are some things that need to be considered. First of all, we have to re-think the whole matter and attach greater importance to the nuclear field both as far as the approach on energy security is concerned and in terms of a higher efficiency concerning the European actions as regards the policies in the field, climate change," Minister Nicolescu told AGERPRES.

In the context, Nicolescu stressed the fact that, following a proposal of the Czech Republic, Romania took over the 2-year chairmanship of the Group of EU member states supporting nuclear energy.

"We consider and interpret this term as a recognition of Romania's role in the field. We are one of the few countries in the world with a complete nuclear cycle. We operate one of the safest nuclear units [CNC Cernavoda plant], this gives us responsibilities for the next two years," Razvan Nicolescu argued.

On the other hand, the Romanian side underscored its support for the development of indigenous energy sources, conventional and unconventional included.

"It is important to be pragmatic, to know if the European Union has conventional or unconventional...