European Union News - Energy

The Commission has approved 15 energy projects which will significantly contribute to the economic recovery of the EU, while increasing our security of energy supply and substantially reduce CO2 emissions. With today's decision, the Commission grants €1 billion to six Carbon Capture and Storage projects and €565 million to nine offshore wind energy projects.

Member States have decided that the new Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) will have its seat in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This decision paves the way for the timely setting up of the Agency and thus the effective implementation of the Third Legislative Package on the Liberalisation of the Energy Markets.

All buildings built after 31 December 2020 must have high energy-saving standards and be powered to a large extent by renewable energy. Public authorities will lead the way two years earlier and part of the funding for these changes will come from the EU. These are among the key points of a deal reached  between Parliament and Council negotiators.

The EU-US Energy Council convened for the first time in Washington DC on 4 November, providing a new framework for bilateral talks on energy issues. The EU Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, led a delegation to the US capital to discuss the framework that focuses on intensified cooperation for energy supply security, low carbon energy sources and energy technologies.

As part of its efforts to portray the Lisbon Strategy as a way out of the current crisis, the EESC debated the state of play of Lisbon at its November Plenary Session. The discussion singled out priorities for the post-2010 agenda and several key opinions were debated and adopted.

This week takes place in Barcelona the last round of negotiations before the Copenhagen summit, where an international agreement for the post-Kyoto age will be at stake. The EU defends an ambitious proposal of reduction of greenhouse effect gases emissions and compensation for developing countries.

Climate change will be the main theme of the EESC plenary session which will adopt an important resolution on sustainable development and climate change. The future European Parliament's working programme will be presented to the EESC by its President, Jerzy Buzek. The EESC will also award the winners of the third edition of the EESC prize for organized civil society.

Swedish president, deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, president of the Commission and EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy are meeting with the President of the USA in Washington. This is the first EU-USA summit under the presidency of Barack Obama.