News

The European Union needs a truly common energy policy which guarantees secure access to energy at reasonable and stable prices and which maintains our competitiveness, said Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Egidijus Meilūnas at the round table discussion on energy policy on 16 June in Vilnius.

At the round table discussion “EU Energy Policy Developments and Financing of Infrastructure after 2013” that was co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Vice-Minister E.Meilūnas stressed that the EU had to create a fifth freedom of the internal market - the free movement of safe and diversified energy.

He also underlined the importance of the decisions of the European Council on the 4th of February that were taken regarding the creation of a competitive and well-functioning EU internal energy market, emphasizing that all the isolated EU member states should be integrated into Europe’s gas and electricity networks, the completion of the internal energy market by 2015 and the need to give due importance to strong EU external energy policy.

The Vice-Minister also noted that the right goals had to be supported by appropriate instruments.

“While sustaining Cohesion policy remains of key importance for Lithuania in the negotiations on the future of the EU Financial Perspectives (2014-2020), we expect that new EU Energy Security and Infrastructure Instrument will extend EU financing for cross-border infrastructure,” E.Meilūnas said.

He noted that the most important current task for Lithuania was to integrate the Baltic States into the EU energy market and to diversify energy supplies.

“We see two main pillars on the way to complete this task: competition and strategic projects,” the Vice-Minister said.

According to him, right solutions for liberalization and EU integration are at reach by implementing the so called EU “third package”. In this regard, Lithuania took decisive steps to create conditions for healthy competition and diversification of supplies. We are very glad to work with the European Commission on that,” E.Meilūnas said.

In his opinion, the EU should send clear and united signals to ensure that nuclear projects in the EU neighborhood would meet absolutely the same parameters to those in the EU. These parameters should include safety and security, as well as obligations to follow the internal market rules.

The Vice-Minister stressed the need of having strong EU external energy policy to secure energy interests of the whole EU. Lithuania expects progress in this field during the next half-year of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.

The round table discussion is attended by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, guests from the European Commission, European Investment Bank and the region’s states, the EU ambassadors who reside in Vilnius, also by representatives and experts from energy companies.