Piebalgs aanwezig bij tweede ministeriële conferentie in Astana (en)

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs i will participate in the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the Baku Process in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on 30 November 2006. The 1st Energy Ministerial Conference was held in Baku on 13 November 2004 and set the framework for enhanced energy cooperation between the EU and the countries of Black and Caspian Seas as well as their neighbours. "This is a historical opportunity to enhance the energy cooperation between two regions of the world that have so much to win from friendly and constructive cooperation", Commissioner Piebalgs said.

The aim of the 2nd Ministerial Conference is to review the work carried out in the first encounter and agree on this strategic cooperation framework with the endorsement of an "Energy Road Map". At the 1st Energy Ministerial Conference, the key result was the agreement on the mutual interest for:

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  supporting the gradual development of regional energy markets in Littoral States of the Black and Caspian Seas and their neighbouring countries in order to facilitate, in the future, a gradual integration between the respective energy markets and the EU market;
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  enhancing the attraction of funding for new infrastructure;
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  embarking on energy efficiency policies and programmes; and
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  using the existing INOGATE Programme structures for facilitating the objectives of this enhanced cooperation.

The EU's Partner Countries in this cooperation include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, while the Russian Federation participants as an observer.