EU's Energy Union becoming a reality, says Commission

The European Commission has published its third report on progress made in delivering and implementing the Energy Union. European trade body Foratom has again highlighted the importance of nuclear energy in achieving the project's objectives.

The Energy Union, launched in February 2015, is a flagship project of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, whose vice president Maroš Šefčovič is in charge of achieving the Energy Union goals. The first report on the State of the Energy Union was published in November 2015, with the second following in February 2017.

The European Commission published its Third Report on the State of the Energy Union on 23 November. According to the report, "Thanks to progress in 2017, the EU is on track to implement the Energy Union project and deliver jobs, growth and investments."

"The energy transition should be socially fair, lead to innovation and be based on a future-proof infrastructure, while enhancing security of supply," the Commission said. "The European Union's investment instruments and its foreign and development policies underpin Europe's energy transition. In all these areas, considerable progress was made in 2017."

The report said it is important to "continue rapidly delivering a number of enabling measures, to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy fully contributes to the modernisation of Europe's economy". This will help member states to comply with the jointly agreed 2020 and 2030 energy and climate targets and with the wider Energy Union objectives, it said.

"Now is the time to mobilise all of society - citizens, cities, rural areas, companies, academia, social partners - to take full ownership of the Energy Union, take it forward and engage in developing the solutions of the future," it says.

The Commission said the EU must "accelerate our cooperative efforts and deliver on our commitment to complete the Energy Union by the end of the current Commission mandate". It added, "By 2019, the Energy Union must no longer be a policy. It must be a reality."

"Like the past year, 2018 too should bring important deliverables," the report states. "There has to be real progress in adopting the legislative framework, implementing the enabling framework and securing the involvement of all parts of society."

Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, welcomed the publication of the European Commission's report. It said it believes that Europe "must continue to focus on achieving its ultimate goal of cutting CO2 emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon economy whilst at the same time ensuring security of energy supply and jobs in Europe. To do this, the EU must continue to make use of all the best tools available, especially nuclear energy."

Foratom director general Yves Desbazeille said: "The Energy Union should ensure that all low-carbon technologies can compete on a level playing field. Accelerating the decarbonisation of Europe, in line with the Commission's goals, has to include nuclear energy, which contributes to all the European Union's key energy objectives: security of supply, competitiveness and environmental sustainability."

He noted, "Not only is nuclear a low-carbon energy source, it also ensures that people and businesses have an integral part of a socially-fair energy transition."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News