The Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr Stavros Papastavrou, held a meeting today with the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen, at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in the presence of the Deputy Minister, responsible for energy issues, Mr Nikos Tsafos and the Secretary General for Energy and Mineral Resources, Ms Despina Paliarouta.

The discussion focused on the distortions observed in the European energy market between the Member States of the North and South and the need for rapid steps towards its unification, the reduction of costs for European households and businesses in Greece, the energy security of the EU through the implementation of connectivity projects of common European interest, as well as the operation of the European task force for the reduction of energy prices.

Papastavrou referred to the first regional meeting of the task force, which took place on July 7, as well as to its upcoming expanded, next meeting on September 3, which aims at better coordination of Governments, Operators and Regulators of the European Union countries, in order to immediately address the increase in energy prices. He stressed that “we must fight as a Union to resolve the distortions in the European system. Our primary, common goal is to reduce energy prices for households and businesses.

The Minister went on to say that “our priority should be to complete the Energy Union with a sense of urgency. It is important to envision and position our system on a pan-European rather than a national basis, accelerating the processes of formulating concrete proposals and their implementation by the task force, as well as promoting interconnections.”

Both the Minister and the European Commissioner noted the urgent need for centralised European planning and modernisation of the networks, as well as the acceleration of the relevant institutional framework in order to improve their efficiency in practice. Particular reference was made to the quintupling of the EU budget for energy infrastructure, the recent proposal of the European Commission to increase the EU’s energy infrastructure budget by five times, and the need for the European Commission’s proposal for a European Energy Agency. Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2035.

The Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2035 was also highlighted.