At a critical turning point, the European Commission is returning to the forefront of the Greece–Cyprus electricity interconnection project (GSI), after several months of silence during which the project has essentially been on hold.

Despite the fact that this is a Project of Common European Interest (PCI) with €657 million in EU funding, the Commission had, in recent months, avoided taking a clear stance on the geopolitical developments that halted progress in the seabed surveys for the cable — developments that reached the point of prompting a NAVTEX issuance request.

This silence contrasts with the Commission’s previously active involvement in the GSI, when it had requested detailed updates on the progress of negotiations between Greece, Cyprus, and the project’s implementing body (IPTO), applying pressure on the two regulators to normalize relations with IPTO and to accelerate the project — a project that was also a priority for the French company Nexans.

However, the critical juncture at which the electricity interconnection now finds itself seems to be reactivating the Commission, which has convened a meeting for next week with the participation of the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy, and Water (RAAEY), the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA), and IPTO.