Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the EU aims to deliver a resilient energy system, capable of withstanding external shocks, while ensuring that energy remains affordable, Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Michael Damianos said on Wednesday, during the informal meeting of Energy Ministers at the “Filoxenia” Conference Centre in Nicosia, in the context of the Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the EU.
In his opening statement, Damianos noted that Cyprus efforts highlight our commitment to a European Union that is competitive and strategically autonomous.
Damianos said that today’s discussions are aligned with that mission. “We aim to deliver a resilient energy system capable of withstanding external shocks while ensuring that energy remains affordable,” he stressed.
“Although Europe does not currently face immediate security of supply risks, our resilience depends on how we address these external shocks through unified action. In this sense, our coordination and cooperation remain essential in confronting the ongoing global energy crisis,” he highlighted.
Damianos pointed that “we must balance the implementation of targeted temporary measures to ensure affordability with the long-term structural reforms needed for a truly resilient energy union.” As he noted, following the call by the European Council, the European Commission, with Commissioner Jorgensen steering the efforts, has recently presented the AccelerateEU Communication.
Earlier, arriving at the “Filoxenia” Conference Centre, Damianos said that “the situation is critical. We need to ensure that energy crisis and transportation risks should not undermine our competitiveness and should not undermine our economic stability,” .
Answering a question regarding support for possible measures, like windfall profit tax for energy companies, the Minister stressed that decisions are taken jointly, rather than sporadically. “There have been measures around the EU, but I think the general idea is that we keep as a union in the way that we actually deal with the crisis,” he noted.
Asked about growing dependence on the USA for energy companies, the Minister said that the idea is to try and get out “as much as we can of our own natural resources,” noting that in this point in time relying on the US capabilities to do that is probably a must.
Asked whether the EU should become a major gas exporter, since it aims for net zero emissions in the next 25 years, Damianos said that we just need to make sure that we use those gas reserves in the next few decades.
Commission to present best practices to reduce consumption
Dan Jorgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, said upon his arrival at the meeting, that this is a fossil energy crisis and we need to stay on course on the transition away from fossils. “We need to make sure that we double down on our efforts to become more energy efficient, to replace more fossil fuels with renewables,” he said.
“It’s clear that the best thing we can do for our citizens and our industries is to make the incentives for them to transition away from fossils and onto renewables as attractive as possible,” he said, adding that he understands that some member states are also, in the short term, in a situation where they need to subsidize certain types of industry or help vulnerable citizens. Although he said that this is legitimate, “we are very firm in our recommendations that these measures need to be targeted and they need to be temporary”, he stressed.
