Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete welcomes the political agreement on a proposal to improve the EU's risk preparedness in the electricity sector

Today’s deal means that five out of the eight legislative proposals of the 2016 Clean Energy for All Europeans package have been politically agreed by the co-legislators, after the agreements in the first half of 2018 on the Governance proposal, the revised Energy Efficiency Directive, the revised Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive. It is clear progress and momentum towards completing the Energy Union and combatting climate change are well under way. The Juncker Commission, working under its political priority “a resilient Energy Union and a forward-looking climate change policy“, is delivering.

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “Today’s deal is another major delivery in our transition to a clean and secure energy system Today’s electricity markets are increasingly interlinked.

With today’s deal, Europeans will be better protected against black-outs. It will ensure that all Member States put in place appropriate tools to prevent, prepare for and manage crisis situations in the supply of electricity. Even when markets and systems function well, the risk of an emergency due to unforeseen circumstances cannot be excluded. Such situations can be managed more effectively through cross border co-ordination in a spirit of solidarity among neighbours.”

The new Regulation will provide new common methods for the identification of possible electricity crisis scenarios at national and regional levels; ensure maximum preparedness against electricity crises and effective management thereof through the preparation and publication of risk-preparedness plans by Member States developed on the basis of the electricity crisis scenarios identified; help national authorities prevent and manage crisis situations in cooperation with each other in a spirit of solidarity; set up a new framework for a more systematic monitoring of security of supply issues via the Electricity Coordination Group; and ensure that markets can work as long as possible.

Following this political agreement, the text of the Regulation will have to be formally approved by the European Parliament and the Council. Once endorsed by both co-legislators in the coming months, the Regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and will immediately enter into force.

Background

The regulation on Risk Preparedness of the electricity sector is part and parcel of the implementation of the Juncker Commission priorities to build “a resilient Energy Union and a forward-looking climate change policy”. The Commission wants the EU to lead the clean energy transition. For this reason the EU has committed to cut CO2 emissions while modernising the EU’s economy and delivering on jobs and growth for all European citizens. In doing so, the Commission is guided by three main goals: putting energy efficiency first, achieving global leadership in renewable energies and providing a fair deal for consumers. All this must be done whilst guaranteeing the security of energy supply of the EU and the resilience and stability of the system against potential threats and crises.

The proposed Regulation focuses on how to secure the resilience of the electricity system as a whole and how to manage electricity crises when they occur, by ensuring that all Member States put in place the appropriate tools to prevent, prepare for and manage these situations. This is necessary given that even where markets and systems function well, the risk of an electricity crisis as a result of a variety of circumstances (e.g. extreme weather circumstances, malicious attacks including cyber-attacks, a fuel shortage) cannot be excluded. In addition, given that electricity systems are integrated, where crisis situations do occur, they often have a cross-border effect. Some circumstances (e.g., a prolonged cold spell or heat wave) might affect several Member States simultaneously and incidents that start locally may rapidly spread. Currently, Member States behave very differently when it comes to preventing and managing crises. National rules and practices tend to focus on the national context only, disregarding cross-border effects. In addition, there is limited sharing of information amongst Member States.

The new rules will provide common methods for assessing risks, will bring more comparability and transparency to the preparation phase and during an electricity crisis, and will ensure that even in a crisis, electricity is delivered where it is needed most. A new framework for a more systematic monitoring of security of supply issues will be set up via the Electricity Coordination Group. The proposal contributes to the revised Third Package by ensuring that, even in crisis situations, priority is given to market-based measures and that markets can work as long as possible.

The Regulation complements and updates the existing network codes and guidelines thatset out harmonised principles for the operational planning and scheduling processes required to anticipate real time operational security difficulties. This will help national authorities prevent and manage crisis situations in cooperation with each other, while avoiding undue interference on the market and on the tasks of the Transmission System Operators (TSOs).

More information

Energy Union

Proposal on risk preparedness

Déclaration de la Haute Représentante Federica Mogherini, au nom de l'UE, sur la République Démocratique du Congo

Déclaration de la Haute Représentante Federica Mogherini, au nom de l’Union Européenne, sur la RDC

1. L’Union européenne est un partenaire de longue date de la République Démocratique du Congo et de sa population et prête une attention constante à l’évolution politique, sécuritaire et humanitaire du pays.

2. Les élections prévues le 23 décembre 2018 constituent une opportunité historique pour la République Démocratique du Congo d’opérer le premier transfert démocratique et pacifique du pouvoir. L’Union européenne réitère son soutien à l’organisation d’un scrutin qui doit se tenir de manière inclusive, transparente, crédible et pacifique, dans le plein respect des droits de l’Homme et des libertés fondamentales. L’Accord de la Saint Sylvestre et la résolution 2409 du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies indiquent clairement à tous les acteurs politiques et aux autres parties prenantes les conditions à respecter pour une sortie de crise durable, la tenue d’élections crédibles et un transfert de pouvoir apaisé. L’Union européenne encourage toutes les parties concernées à les mettre en œuvre.

3. Le Gouvernement et la CENI ont une responsabilité majeure pour l’avenir du pays. Ils doivent œuvrer à la bonne tenue des élections en respectant la date prévue et les standards de transparence et d’efficacité nécessaires. L’observation électorale indépendante, par des organisations régionales et par les acteurs de la société civile, joue un rôle clef. La participation réelle des femmes dans toutes les étapes du processus électoral doit être assurée.

L’UE encourage aussi le Gouvernement à consolider la confiance des électeurs et la crédibilité du processus et à associer de manière transparente toutes les parties prenantes à l’ensemble du processus, ainsi qu’à garantir la liberté de l’espace politique. L’UE appelle l’ensemble des parties prenantes à s’abstenir de toute incitation à la violence, à respecter le code de conduite et les obligations en vigueur, et à régler de manière pacifique leurs différends. La liberté de la presse et de manifestation pacifique et l’accès équitable aux médias – dans le respect des obligations internationales de la RDC – constitueront également des éléments essentiels pour la crédibilité du processus.

4. La situation à l’est du pays nécessite davantage d’engagement de la part des autorités congolaises, aussi en vue de pouvoir y organiser le scrutin dans les meilleures conditions.

5. L’Union européenne suivra attentivement le déroulement des élections en RDC. La tenue d’élections inclusives, transparentes, crédibles et pacifiques sera importante pour son engagement futur en RDC avec les autorités démocratiquement élues pour le développement du pays dans l’intérêt de la population congolaise.

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Speech by European Commissioner Jourová at Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) on New Unity or Old Divisions – Europe at the crossroads

Dear chair of the plenary,

Dear members of the Seimas,

Dear Minister Linas Linkevičius,

I am honoured to speak to you here in the Seimas today, especially in this unique year when you celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the restored State of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian history could be a lesson of heroism and determination in fighting to preserve your language, your culture and finally in creating your State.

You used not only force, but you were also smart. Only the smart nation can invent a word ‘knygnešiai’, meaning roughly ‘book carriers’;a necessary profession in times when the Russian empire forbid the press in your language.

Throughout the history Lithuanians showed many times that you want to take the future of your country in your own hands.

In many ways, today’s Europe is at the crossroads, and I am confident that your past could be a lesson for the entire Europe, because we also need to take fate in our own hands – if we want to survive.

Europe’s past and the Europe of today – challenging times

More than sixty years ago, an ‘Iron Curtain’ between East and West divided Europe.

Many in Europe, in my country and in yours, lived without freedom, without democracy, in constant fear of ever-powerful state police.

Today, five hundred million European citizens enjoy a unique diversity of culture and traditions in a Union covering four million square kilometres.

But, today, we face new threats to our stability and security – from the inside and outside of the European Union.

We’ve been confronted with huge financial crisis, unemployment, untamed globalisation and digital revolution, brain drain, finally terrorism and migration crisis, not to mention the biggest crisis in the EU in the living memory – Brexit.

All of this has its impact.

Everywhere I go I hear two main things that people expect politicians to deal with: inequality and uncertainty.Many people tell me that they have a feeling that justice is only for the powerful and that political class abandoned their interests. Many people simply feel afraid again.

That’s why people turn to unhealthy nationalism or to populist movements that promise simple, yet dreadful solutions.

On top of that, the alliances we have known for generations start shaking. The transatlantic relations are undergoing a transformation under the current US President. The Russian threat, which was considered by many as something of the past, seems to be well alive, online and offline. China has become an assertive economic and political player.

European Elections in May 2019

This is the scene setter for the upcoming European Elections in May 2019. But I would like to warn against treating those elections as business as usual.

This time many of us worry not only about the outcome of elections but also about foreign meddling and disinformation in election processes – whether at the European or at the national level.

The Cambridge Analytica case sent shockwaves through our democratic systems.

On top of that, Russia has been identified as one of the main sources. Our team working on this since 2015 has identified over 4,000 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation. Europeans expect us to remain vigilant. In fact, 7 in 10 Europeans including 66% of Lithuanians are concerned about disinformation online.

We cannot stay idle when the enemies of our democracy use modern technologies to manipulate our elections.

Lithuania’s efforts to counter disinformation are one of the most advanced in the entire EU and we can only learn from you.

But we’ve also acted on the European level.

We have proposed an election package to quickly detect potential threats, swiftly enforce existing rules online and strengthen transparency.

And we have the most modern data protection rules, known as GDPR, that apply also to political parties and other actors in the electoral context.

Defining and defending Europe’s values

In these elections in many places in Europe also the simple existence of the EU will be questioned. People will ask what the EU is good for. To answer that question, it’s good to recall where we came from.

Those of you who are a bit older, who are around my age, would remember how jealously we looked at the young EU, known then as European Communities, not because they were rich, but because they had freedoms we couldn’t even dream of.

The EU’s founding fathers realised that the price to pay for lack of basic human values is high and decided to enshrine them in the law; values like fairness, democracy, equality before the law and respect for minorities.

Yet, today we witness forces that question those basic values also in the EU; forces that want the return of power with no restraint, without checks and balances such as free media or independent courts.

Yet, we still remember that it is life without individual rights that is the source of fear.

The sad part is that those forces managed to build a contradiction between security and democracy. But it is democracy that offers the protection of its values to everyone, regardless of your birth status, connections or wealth.

And the rule of law is the bedrock of our democracy. Without it, the free press will eventually be attacked and labelled as fake news. Consumers will not be able to challenge the well-connected businesses, and we all won’t be able to enforce our rights, either against the government or the companies who cheat on us or abuse our data. Without it we will not have trust in each other, and we will in the long run not have a functioning Single Market.

Bringing East and West together

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the last five years many people have asked me what is it that we have in common, the East with the West, the Lithuanians with the Portuguese, the Czechs with the Swedes.

The answer is that what unites us is the respect for these basic values. Then we can differ all we want, like true democratic Europeans, but we have to respect those basic foundations.

But we have much more work to do if we want to build a Union of equal opportunities and equal obligations. To that end, we need to also build more bridges between the West and the East of our Union.

We have to overcome the still existing economic and social disparities between East and West.

Lithuania has been doing very well in this regard in the last years. You have reached almost 80% of EU’s average wealth in 2017, up from around 50% in 2005.

But still there are many of our children and grandchildren leaving the country and heading to the west or the north because they don’t see sufficient opportunities here.

We need to change that! I want young people in the European Union to have equal chances to find the best education and a good job no matter where they are born.

This is why I’m convinced that we have to put much more effort in creating economic opportunities by bringing more investments to the eastern part of Europe. And this cannot only be by the cohesion fund. The EU can help to create conditions to attract foreign direct investment and to bring well-paid jobs in innovative sectors.

This is already the case in Lithuania when it comes to life sciences. Biotechnology, medical devices and pharmaceutical industries are booming in your country and you are becoming a capital for this type of jobs not only in the region, but in the whole of Europe.

We need to strengthen the European investment funds and put more money into research and innovation. Our research and innovations program “Horizon+” will be funded with 100 Billion Euros for 2021-2027. You have to use this money wisely.

But we also have to realise that the next 7 year budget, will be a Brexit budget and that the net payers to the EU budget will look at every Euro twice before spending.

So, it’s time to think of reserving the EU funds for those who respect these very basics rights and values we have talked about earlier. I don’t want to punish any country, but in the future, our common funds should be invested in those that don’t question the very core of Europe’s soul.

The Light Touch Commission

In a year’s time we will have the new Commission. I am hoping to hear from you what you think the next Commission should do, but for me, this should be a Commission of light touch when it comes to regulation, but hard enforcement of the existing rules, so it’s not cheap to cheat.

Take the dual food quality for instance. Selling the same product with different ingredients in two EU countries should be illegal. So, I have proposed the legislation to ban such practices and I hope the European Parliament will manage to vote on it still next year.

But, I truly believe that there are things that can be better regulated on the national or even the regional or local level.

So we should take the concerns of many people about subsidiarity seriously and really focus on the core tasks for the EU. We should do less, but better and faster to address the real problems of the people. We should be smart, brave, but not intrusive, exactly like your book carriers.

And we should be a strong actor at the global stage. We need a united Europe that defends its interest in international trade, in particular against rising protectionism. We need an assertive Europe that is a player in international rule making, show that we can set examples which become an international reference point, as we did on data protection. And we need to strengthen our cooperation in new areas to defend ourselves better in international security and defence matters.

The times we live in seem so dramatic and challenging that it is easy to think it has never been worse. But our parents and grandparents do remember much worse.

We, together, have created the most ambitious project in the world, the European Union. The Union with the highest employment rights, with strict rules for food safety and clean water, the Union without borders and with one currency.

Simply, there was never a better time to live in Europe.

But we have many challenges ahead and we have to fight to defend our values and fight for people’s hearts and minds.

We can only do that if we have the courage to listen to the people and ask humbly to trust us to solve their problems.

We can only do that if we can show that the European Union can be assertive and can defend its people.

We need a European Union that is united by values, economically strong and that takes its fate into its own hands – just like the Lithuanians did 100 years ago.

Thank you for your attention.

Remarks by Commissioner Bieńkowska at the press conference on the Juncker Plan at work and the Single Market in a changing world

In March the European Council asked us to present the state of play of the Single Market along with an assessment of remaining barriers and opportunities for the future. When leaders discuss the future of the single market at the European Council in mid-December, I hope that they will renew their commitments to the single market – not only in words, but also in deeds.

We need to look into the future. With this communication we are offering some avenues for the future.

It is important to underline that in our studies we have documented that – at the moment – economic growth in the world, unfortunately, takes mainly place outside the EU. Our competitors are continent-sized economies.

The Single Market needs everybody in the EU to play by the commonly agreed rules. And just as we are resisting protectionism outside the EU, we should also resist the fragmentation inside the EU. Member States need to be vigilant in implementing and applying EU rules and refrain from creating new barriers in areas such as cross-border service provision, especially in such areas as cross border service provision.

In particular, I am convinced that we should shift the narrative from traditional “completing the Single Market” to a new narrative of the Single Market as a delivery tool for welfare to the citizens, industrial competitiveness, our standing and influence in the world. The traditional narrative of “completing the Single Market” means only ticking the boxes. And this is not the right approach now.

Lack of progress on notification procedure, car emissions, food labelling, and many others have been conducted and driven by such an approach – by ticking the boxes, by only “completing the single market”. Member States do like very much to concentrate on what they feel is good for them and to avoid what is more problematic. This is my experience of dealing with more than 1000 infringements today.

The message that the Single Market is good for the economy, for business, for workers, for consumer has to come out more clearly. We have to be more precise on the issue of servitisation and the role of services for the competitiveness of our industries is fully developed in the draft.

Similarly, how the Single Market supports our trade agenda and how we need to be much more consistent and ambitious on enforcement – are issues which together with our competition rules will be key for our future policies in that area.

Therefore, we also call on Member States, with the European Parliament, to urgently adopt the key proposals on the table before the end of this legislature. Since the beginning of the mandate we have presented 67 proposals directly relevant for the proper functioning of the Single Market. 44 of them remain to be agreed. This needs to change.

You see, on the level of declarations: everybody loves the Single Market. But when it comes down to actual proposals, such as the ones this Commission has put forward in the area of services, it’s a different story.

Let me add a quick word about the action plan on standardisation that we have also adopted today. Standards like the A4 paper size or airbags, or in the future 5G technology, are sometimes seen as a technical issue. But they have an important economic impact and benefit companies and consumers in the Single Market every day. That is why today we commit to doing our part for the standardisation system to be more efficient and transparent.

So in nutshell, our message today is that the EU needs to show leadership and political courage to take the Single Market to a new level. A fully functioning Single Market, together with a properly functioning standardisation system, will make the Union even more attractive to international trading partners and provide it with additional leverage on the international stage.

Remarks by Vice-President Katainen at the press conference on the Juncker Plan at work and the Single Market in a changing world

Welcome to today’s press conference. We have three communications, which all are interlinked: one on the Investment Plan for Europe or Juncker Plan if you want, one on the Single Market and finally one on European harmonised standards. They all have an impact to our economic growth and to the modernisation of the EU economy. But before going to the substance, let me say a few words about the context. in six months European citizens will have the opportunity to elect the next European Parliament.

My message to them today is: have your say on what kind of Europe you want – but don’t take Europe for granted.

Don’t take it for granted that you have the freedom to live or work in another European country, like 17 million Europeans already do.

That the cost of phone calls has fallen by two thirds and you can roam for free.

That you have more control over your personal data than ever.

That we have the strictest rules on food, health and toy safety, for instance.

That you can claim compensation if your flight is delayed.

That you can cancel or return online purchases within 14 days.

That the Investment Plan for Europe has supported more than 750,000 jobs.

So, don’t take any of this for granted. All of this has been done because we have wanted to deepen our probably the most precious asset: the Single Market. And we have worked together in order to boost investment. There are also forces who are either intentionally or unintendedly erecting barriers to our internal trade. That’s why all those issues cannot be taken for granted. Single Market is not an asset which you can fully complete. The market and technologies are changing all the time. Think of, for instance, artificial intelligence or the circular economy. Both are the drivers of economic growth in the coming years. They are the megatrends in the world economy and it means that we have to reshape our Single Market to enable frictionless market within the EU and promote growth. Single Market is also the reason why EU is so attractive for foreign direct investments. It means more jobs, more competition and more productivity in our economy. Productivity is the best friend of welfare society. Single Market is also the reason why we have managed to get good trade agreements with third countries. Many countries are willing to have an agreement with us because it allows them to get an access to the EU Single Market. The Single Market is also the way to set global standards, for instance on product safety, energy efficiency or, for instance, GDPR is a good example. And in the future we could have global standards on the quality of plastics. So are we the ones that set the standards or are we the ones who adapt to the standards which the others have set? That’s why Single Market is a much wider concept than someone might think. Technology is changing, people’s demands are changing and market is changing. This is not just a message to citizens and businesses. It’s also a message to our Member States and the European Council, which we expect to devote due attention to this matter. Because there is now a real urgency to act if you want to maintain growth and competitiveness in Europe. This matter deserves due attention at all levels. Elzbieta will present the Single Market communication and the harmonised standards communication in a little while. But let me say also a couple of words on the Investment Plan communication. I must say that Investment Plan for Europe has been a success story. It has brought investment back to sustainable level in Europe. Four years on, we can clearly say that that it was exactly the right thing to do. It has been a game-changer, in the way we used public money to crowd in private investment into projects that modernise our economy and help start-ups to strive.

The EFSI, the financial leg of Investment Plan, has covered roughly speaking one third of the investment gap we had when we started this programme. I give you a couple of figures on the EFSI. EFSI has already mobilised €360 billion worth of investments, two-thirds of which come from private resources. So it shows that it functions exactly as we wanted it to function. By using public guarantees, we could crowd-in private liquidity which was resting in the bank accounts.

Now they are in productive work. 850,000 small and medium sized businesses are set to benefit from improved access to finance. Estimates show, that already now EFSI supported some 750,000 jobs, while 1.4 million jobs will be created by 2020. The EFSI has already now increased EU GDP by 0.6%. By 2020 we expect the increase to be 1.3%. The biggest users of EFSI when looking at EFSI investment per countries’ GDP are Greece number one, Estonia second, Portugal third, Spain fourth, fifth is Lithuania, sixth: Latvia, seventh: Bulgaria, Poland is eighth, Finland ninth and Italy tenth. 33% of EFSI financing has gone to small and medium enterprises, 21% to research and development and innovation, 19% to energy and 11% to digital.

But EFSI is only the financial leg of the Investment Plan. The entire Investment Plan consists of three areas: EFSI, but then also the advisory hub and the project portal and finally structural reforms both at national and European levels. European structural reforms mean for instance: Capital Markets Union initiatives, Energy Single Market initiatives, everything related to the Single Market strategy. I also must mention the circular economy proposals which are modern examples of deepening the Single Market. And I must also say that since we started the focus on national reforms, many of our Member States have done significant reforms to cut red tape and make the business environment more favourable for growth and investment. So, I will stop here and pass on the floor to Elzbieta who will give you further information as to other proposals.