Energy Union

Prime Minister Victor Ponta in Bucharest on Friday talked with Slovak Republic Prime Minister Robert Fico about topical issues of the European agenda, such as the Juncker Investment Plan, the Energy Union and the developments in the eastern neighbourhood.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Romania supports the promotion of an active political, commercial agenda in the Caspian Sea region for the development of a viable alternative route at the Black Sea, accomplished through projects such as AGRI-LNG, on Thursday said in Brussels the secretary of state with the Energy, SMEs and Business Milieu ministry, Bogdan Badea.

Photo credit: (c) Vlad STAVRICA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The situation in Bulgaria is not easy, because of the lack of economic growth. The average values have improved as compared to the previous year, but nonetheless Bulgaria is among the list of member states with lowest public debt.

The College of Commissioners adopted its strategy on the Energy Union on Wednesday, which focuses on achievement of sustainable energy union and forward-looking policy on climate change.

Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic and Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete presented the strategy.

The new strategic framework for the creation of a Energy Union was deemed ''crucial'' to the EU future in a Westinghouse report published Wednesday.

Westinghouse Electric Company is a pioneer in the nuclear energy sector. Its technology is used in over half of the power plants across Europe.

The European Commission is to present Wednesday a blueprint for the future Energy Union.

The establishment of the energy union is a priority task for the Juncker commission aimed at reducing the dependence of the EU Member States on Russian natural gas and at boosting the energy efficiency of the housing stock, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Television.

Turkey and Russia do not have common interests in energy in the long-term, and EU could boost cooperation with Ankara through its nascent Energy Union, a recent report argues.

The European Commission (EC) plans on establishing a practice of holding mandatory pre-consultations with member states, prior to signing of energy deals with third countries.

This is foreseen in a draft plan for the Energy Union as part of the strategy to diversify the EU's energy suppliers, EurActiv reports.

The development of plans for the construction of a Vertical Corridor connecting the gas grids of Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania has reached an advanced stage, according to Romanian authorities.

Representatives of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia as well as European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič and Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy Miguel Arias Cañete held the first meeting of the Central East South Europe Gas Connectivity (CESEC) High Level Group in Sofia on Monday.