BRUA gas pipeline evolution on the agenda of the TTE Council
On 4 March, Romania’s Energy Minister Anton Anton attended, in Brussels, a meeting with representatives of Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary on the evolution of works on BRUA gas pipeline (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria). The event was also attended, at the invitation of Minister Anton, by Dominique Ristori, Director General of DG Energy.
The meeting took place at the initiative of Minister Anton, in the context of holding the first formal TTE Council – Transport, Telecommunications and Energy, within the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Within this event, Minister Anton reiterated Romania’s firm commitment to the development of this energy corridor extremely important for the energy security of Romania and, thus, of Central and South-Eastern Europe.
“BRUA is an extremely important project for South-Eastern Europe, a region where gas transmission infrastructure is in full development. This gas pipeline will allow interconnection to the gas systems of neighbouring countries and thus will create increased energy security in the region. Through BRUA we actually create a true regional energy market, which will also contribute to strengthening the single European market. I believe that the fact that BRUA benefits from the declared support of the European Commission should bring us, the four states involved in the development of this project, to a common pace in completing the gas pipeline, so important for the future of the European energy sector. Romania is unquestionably dedicated to implementing this project. On Romania’s territory works are on schedule, some being completed even earlier than estimated,” Energy Minister Anton Anton said.
The TTE Council works towards fulfilling EU objectives in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy: to establish modern, competitive and efficient markets and infrastructure, and to create trans-European transport, communications and energy networks.
Priorities of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council under the Romanian presidency
The Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union started on 1 January 2019 and will conclude on 30 June 2019.
Transport
The presidency will promote connectivity as a fundamental element for the integration of European markets. As such, it will pursue the Connecting Europe Facility and the so-called mobility packages which group initiatives such as social conditions for drivers, rules for combined transport of goods, and clean and energy efficient road transport.
Telecommunications
Digitalisation is also a top priority. In this field, the Romanian presidency will focus on reducing the digital gap between EU regions, economic sectors and citizens. It plans to do so by achieving progress on important proposals such as the Digital Europe programme. The presidency will also start discussions on the post-2020 digital single market strategy.
In addition, the Romanian presidency will look to advance key reforms on cybersecurity and ePrivacy.
Energy
The presidency will continue the EU’s efforts to implement the Energy union, support the development of the future energy system and strengthen nuclear security.
The main objective of the presidency is to establish a safe European energy market, which provides sustainable and affordable energy for European consumers and generates reliable market signals to investors. To achieve this, the Romanian presidency will seek to advance on several legislative files. These include: validation of the political deal with the European Parliament on the market design files; a general approach on the tyres labelling regulation; progress in the negotiations on the natural gas directive and the connecting Europe facility.
The Presidency also plans to adopt Council conclusions in June on the future of the energy system in the Energy Union. They will focus on ways of ensuring energy transition and reaching climate objectives.
Extracts from the roundtable at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (Energy) Council, taking place on 4 March 2019, in Brussels.
