European Union News - Energy

The Official Journal of the EU on July 31, 2009 includes the publication of Regulation (EC) No 663/2009 of the European Parliament and Council on establishing a programme to support economic recovery through the granting of Community financial assistance projects in the field of energy.

In recent years the EU has mainstreamed sustainable development into a broad range of its policies. In particular, the EU has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and the promotion of a low-carbon economy. Three years into the implementation of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy the Commission has taken stock of developments at EU level and launched a reflection on how the EU strategy could be taken into the future.

The Swedish town of Are hosts meeting of European ministers of energy and environment. The former have in their agendas the negotiation of directives that make up the energy efficiency package, with the aim of reaching an agreement with the European Parliament about it in December.

The European Commission and CERN signed on July 17th 2009 a Memorandum of Understanding  which aims to enhance the long-standing partnership between the two organizations. The MoU will provide a structured framework for cooperation across a broad range of issues of common interest, with emphasis on consolidating and further developing the European Research Area and facilitating the implementation of the European Strategy for Particle Physics, as defined by the CERN Council.

In Strasbourg the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Jan Fischer, has reported to MEPs on his country's six-month presidency of the European Union, in which the main challenges had been "the three Es": economy, energy policy and the EU's role in the world.

Parliament heard today from Sweden's Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, about his government's plans for its six-month presidency of the EU. Economic crisis, Lisbon Treaty and climate change are their priorities for the presidency.

The European Commission has adopted a new regulation to improve security of gas supplies in the framework of the internal gas market. The proposed Regulation would strengthen the existing EU system for gas supply security by ensuring that all Member States and their gas market players take effective action well in advance to prevent and mitigate the consequences of potential disruptions to gas supplies. It also would create mechanisms for Member States to work together to deal effectively with any major gas disruptions which might arise.

The Directorate General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission has published a notice by which it intends to undertake an analysis of the financing of renewable energy in the European energy market in the face of energy goals by 2020.

 The Council has adopted a regulation establishing a programme to aid economic recovery by granting Community financial assistance to projects in the field of energy, approving all the European Parliament's first reading amendments.

The Official Journal of the European Union 2.7.2009 has published the Council Directive 2009/71/EURATOM of 25 June 2009 establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations.

The Directorate General for External Relations, Unit F2 published in the Supplement of Official Journal of the European Union of July 1, 2009 a tender for the creation of a network of clean energy.