The EU Foreign Ministers’ working luncheon with EU Energy Commissioner Guther Oettinger in Brussels today was dedicated to energy and foreign policy. A large part of the discussion dealt with the energy dimension of the Ukraine crisis and with EU-Russian relations in the energy sector.
During the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, speaking on behalf of Greece and of the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the EU, stressed, first, Greece’s pivotal role, due mainly to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and its branches, but also due to the potential Greece has and can develop at its liquefied natural gas terminal at Revithoussa, in combination with the discussions that took place this year in Budapest regarding the Aegean-Baltic Central Corridor, which can also function as a reverse-flow pipeline.
Second, Mr. Venizelos underscored the great inequalities that exist within the EU in the in energy sector, due to the fact that some states produce nuclear energy and others do not, due to limitations imposed on the use of the natural resources possessed by some states – Greek lignite, for example – and due to the large differences that exist from state to state in the price of natural gas.
From this perspective, Mr. Venizelos stressed that the first step that should be taken is a single negotiation on behalf of all the member states, by the European Commission, with natural gas suppliers, so that there can be a single price, which would redress these structural inequalities.
March 17, 2014