I want to first thank you, Teresa, and your team for a truly outstanding Presidency.
Thanks to your leadership and the commitment of your team, you helped us finalise all the remaining open legislative files. We had many!
From the gas package to the electricity market design, from the energy performance of buildings to methane, the EU has now a fully-fledged, agreed framework to drive its clean energy transition.
We can focus on making things happen on the ground.
So thank you, once again, Teresa. It has been a pleasure to work with you and we have delivered.
Coming to the agenda of the Council today, we are closing this year, the second since the start of the war in Ukraine, on a positive note, despite the strong challenges we still face.
We have reviewed today, as we always do at the December Council, the security of supply outlook ahead of the Winter.
Europe is well prepared, the storage levels are very high for this point of the year, the gas prices are at lowest levels since the war started and we are also making progress in diversifying away from Russian imports.
We expect the total imports of Russian gas for 2023 to be around 40 bcm, roughly divided equally between LNG and pipeline gas. This is half the volumes the EU imported last year, around 80 bcm of Russian gas in total.
We keep under close review the specific situation of Russian LNG imports.
I am glad that Council and Parliament have now agreed in the gas package on the Commission technical suggestions to have provisions that will allow each Member State to limit the pipeline and LNG gas imports in their own networks, in line with their security of supply considerations.
This is a proportionate and targeted way to address Russian LNG imports. It is now for the Member States to deliver.
While the current market situation is healthy, the new geopolitical situation presents a number of risks.
We need to maintain in place the preparedness and crisis response measures that we introduced last year. That’s why the Commission proposed three weeks ago the extension of three emergency regulations: Solidarity Regulation, renewables permitting Regulation and the Market Correction Mechanism.
These measures contributed to alleviating the high prices and volatility on the markets. They are paying off, and it makes sense to keep them in place for another year.
I am glad the Ministers today approved the extension of those regulations by one additional year.
We can now look at the short-term future with more confidence.
One important achievement this year was the collective effort of EU and Member States to fast-track renewables. And this acceleration is happening – we will reach this year more than 69 GW of new renewable generation. This is another record for Europe.
But we need to keep this momentum going forward. That’s why we are putting in place new tools and new forms of support for European clean energy technologies, such as the Grids Action Plan and the Wind Power Package.
Today, I have assisted to the signature of the Wind Charter, which follows up to our Wind Power Package. The signatories were Member States and representatives of the European wind industry.
And a little earlier this morning we also organised with all Member States the launch of the Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition, to support investment and funding for energy efficient policies and measures.
Also, in the margins of this Council, I also signed the Memorandum of Understanding for South-West Europe and witnessed the signature of political declaration on implementing the synchronisation of the Baltic States between Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
This is a matter of fact: Interconnections and cross border cooperation are key in Europe to ensure energy security, fast track renewables and lower prices for consumers.
I also want to mention Ukraine, which remains a priority focus of my work, all the more now after the important decision of the European Council last week to open the accession negotiations.
I am grateful to Teresa for having organised a discussion with our counterpart in Ukraine, Minister Galushchenko, who briefed us on the energy situation in Ukraine in view of the winter and the heating season. Another difficult winter for them.
To help Ukraine cope with this winter, together with the Energy Community we have rallied a Fund that has collected thus far over €400 million.
As the Russian attacks continue this winter, I encouraged the Ministers to continue with donations, both in terms of equipment and financial aid.
Finally, I also informed the Ministers of recent external energy relations and the conclusions of the COP28. The Global Pledge on renewables and energy efficiency, included also in the final text of the COP28, with over 130 signatures, was an incredible success for EU climate and energy diplomacy.
All these achievements concretely showcase how Europe is changing fast around own energy sector, while we are leading by example.
There is no pause, we stay the course. We accelerate towards our energy future by developing concrete projects that work for the consumers and for our companies.
I believe that the Spanish Presidency was a great success. But I also believe that the Belgian Presidency starts at a crucial time, and they will set a new tone for our targets beyond 2030.