Romania and the integrated energy market

Minister delegate for European affairs Victor Negrescu attends Romanian Energy Day international conference in Brussels.

Daniela Budu, 06.06.2018, 13:43

The future Romanian
presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first half of next
year, will pay more attention to the energy sector, focusing on
interconnectivity and a modern and reliable infrastructure, which are essential
for achieving an integrated energy market. This is what the minister delegate
for European affairs Victor Negrescu said in Brussels, where he attended the
Romanian Energy Day international conference. He told Radio Romania’s reporters
that the ultimate goal in adopting the package on energy union is to provide
affordable, safe and durable energy for Europe and its citizens. Victor
Negrescu:

First and foremost,
it’s important to discuss, at European level, the measures meant to ensure the
energy security of member states and of their citizens. In practice, this means
that we should make sure that citizens and national industries have access to
viable, quality energy, at competitive prices. Along the same lines, the
central and eastern European countries want certain measures to be passed at
European level, meant to ensure equitable access to viable and safe energy
sources in the long run.

According to a
Romanian Foreign Ministry press release, Romania is an important provider of
energy security in the region and has the potential to strengthen this role in
the future. The Romanian energy sector has the necessary resources and
expertise to be able to contribute to the consolidation of Romania’s position
among EU states and the Romanian authorities believe that energy security also
depends on diversifying the energy sources. Victor Negrescu:

Diversifying energy
sources is necessary because it is critical to offer consumers the possibility
to choose. In this sense, the fact that Romania is an energy provider at
regional level means that Romania can become an alternative source for the
states of the region. In order to do that, we need interconnectivity, we need
to develop the infrastructure and we need projects such as BRUA or other
similar projects. I also have in mind interconnection with the Moldovan system.
We need to achieve all these in order to make sure that Europe diversifies its
resources and taps into the existing energy potential in Europe or other
potential partners.

According to the
Foreign Ministry’s press release, Romania supports the measures meant to
consolidate European energy security, to reach the long-term objectives in the
areas of energy and climate change and to set up an integrated and functional
energy market.