Prioriteiten van het Hongaars voorzitterschap ten aanzien van het energiebeleid (en)

“The European Council’s historic decision on 4 February to create a single European energy market and eliminate external energy dependency confirmed the Hungarian Presidency’s priorities”- said Tamás Fellegi, Minister of National Development at the conference of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), in Brussels on 10 February 2011.

The conference was organised in Brussels by ENTSO-E, which gathers 34 European countries with a mission to promote European energy market integration and to improve transmission networks. The participants discussed the potentials of electric power until 2020 and ways to connect the North Sea wind farms to the European power supply system.

Challenges ahead of Europe

At the event, Tamás Fellegi, who chairs the Energy Council, highlighted the most formidable challenges of the 21^st century are related to energy management and the demand for secure, sustainable and affordable energy supplies. European economy drives energy infrastructures, therefore, their development will contribute to creating single European energy markets, enabling consumers to acquire affordable energy supplies, and enhance the economic and social cooperation of neighbouring countries. The Hungarian Presidency considers these objectives as priorities, the Minister underlined.

Tamás Fellegi feels that Europe has to overcome four fundamental challenges when developing the electric power infrastructure. First, it has to clarify the issues of market integration and surmount the obstacles of transmission network improvement. The Minister advocated the establishment of conditions for coordinated European network improvement, and highlighted the need for new productive capacities to satisfy the increasing demand for energy.

The Minister also touched upon renewable energy sources and stressed their importance. He said development projects call for long-term planning. If the European Union is to achieve a 80-95 percent decrease in carbon-dioxide emission by 2050, it will need significant investments in infrastructure development. Mr Fellegi stressed that the Hungarian Presidency will propose a dialogue on these long-term objectives at the informal ministerial meeting which will take place in Hungary in early May.