Workshop over de vooruitzichten van het Oostelijk partnerschap voor energie-efficiëntie en duurzame energie (en)

On Friday, 20 September 2013, the Committee on Energy Security of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly in cooperation with the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania will hold the workshop “Eastern Partnership prospects on energy efficiency and renewable energy” at the Seimas, in Vilnius.

As an additional event within the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency i of the Council of the EU, the workshop will be an opportunity for the Members of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly, Members of the European Parliament and of the national Parliaments of EU Member States, policy-makers, academics and representatives from the energy industry to discuss findings of high-level experts and to exchange ideas on initiatives for enhancing cooperation in the energy field, within the Eastern Partnership.

The initiative to organise the workshop of the EURONEST Committee on Energy Security in Vilnius belongs to Algirdas Saudargas, Member of the European Parliament, who is also a Member of the EP i Delegation to the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly.

Irena Degutienė, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, and Borys Tarasyuk, Co-President of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, will extend their welcome addresses to the participants of the event. Kęstutis Daukšys, Chair of the Energy Commission of the Seimas, will deliver an opening address.

Introductory remarks to be made by Algirdas Saudargas i, MEP and Co-Chair of the Committee on Energy Security of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly, and Fuad Muradov, Member of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Experts from various countries will deliver presentations on the promotion of energy efficiency, renewable energy and cooperation between EU Member States and Eastern Partnership countries aimed at resolving energy issues. Detailed programme of the event is available here.

The EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly, as the parliamentary institution of the Eastern Partnership, pursues the objective of promoting mutual support, security mechanisms and harmonisation of energy policies between the EU and its Eastern European partners. The Eastern Partnership policy and the external dimension of the EU energy policy also figure prominently on the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council in 2013. The idea to set up an interparliamentary forum with the Eastern Partnership countries was raised at the European Parliament back in 2006. The Assembly was constituted on 3 May 2011 in Brussels.

The EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly consists of 110 members: the European Parliament delegation (60 members) and the Eastern European Partners' (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) delegations (10 members from each country). Belarus does not take part in the Assembly's activities, due to political reasons.

The EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly holds a plenary session once a year and standing committees of the Assembly meet twice per year. The EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly has 4 standing committees: Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy; Committee on Economic Integration, Legal Approximation and Convergence with EU Policies; Committee on Energy Security and Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society. The Assembly also has two working groups: the Working Group on Belarus and the Working Group on the Rules of Procedure.

The workshop will take place at the Constitution Hall (Building 1 of the Seimas). The workshop will start at 9.30 a.m.

The event will be broadcast live on: the website of the Seimas, the website of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and on the television channel Seimas-tiesiogiai.

At 1 p.m. a press point of the Chairs of the EURONEST Committee on Energy Security should take place (at the entrance to the Constitution Hall, next to the Office of the Speaker of the Seimas).