Energy Council to discuss the Clean energy package in Brussels on 27 February

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Publication date 24.2.2017 10.48
Press release

The EU Energy Ministers will convene in Brussels on 27 February 2017. They will have an exchange of views on the Commission’s Clean energy package. The Council will also be informed by the Commission on the second report on the state of the Energy Union and by the Maltese Presidency on the state of negotiations concerning the security of gas supply regulation and the energy labelling regulation. Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will represent Finland at the meeting.

The Council will have an exchange of views on the Clean energy package which the Commission presented in late November. Malta has prepared a set of questions concerning the progress of the package in different institutions as well as regional cooperation. The Finnish responses highlight the key national issues, in particular biofuels and the sustainability criteria for forest biomass in the renewable energy directive.

The Council's working group has already started discussions on the different proposals in the Clean energy package. The Maltese Presidency will try to finalise the Council position on the energy efficiency directive and the energy performance of buildings directive by the June Energy Council on 26 June 2017.

Finland supports the Presidency’s efforts to reach a common position on the package without delay. However, the package is a massive 3,500-page collection of eight different legislative proposals, and there is no defined time limit for discussing it. Considering the weight of the proposals, ample time should be reserved for discussing the package. With the Clean energy package the Commission is responding to the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030, especially regarding renewable energy, energy efficiency and the new governance system.

The Commission will present the energy ministers its second state of the Energy Union communication, issued on 1 February 2017. The communication will also be presented to the European Council in March. Finland finds the communication a good review of the implementation of EU’s energy policy objectives. It is important that the EU make progress in implementing its energy policy and reach the energy and climate targets set for 2020. The Commission will be reporting on the state of the Energy Union annually.

This year the Commission’s communication on the state of the Energy Union takes stock of the progress made in each of the dimensions of the Energy Union and highlights the most important plans for next steps. The year 2016 was a year of delivery for the Energy Union. The vision of the Energy Union Framework Strategy was translated into concrete legislative and non-legislative initiatives, most recently with the “Clean Energy for all Europeans” package presented on 30 November 2016. The package contains eight legislative proposals and several reports and communications.

The new governance system for the Energy Union will be addressed over lunch, and Minister Lintilä will be presenting Finland’s new national energy and climate strategy on request by the Commission.

Inquiries:

Riku Huttunen, Director General, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 431 6518
Tuuli-Maaria Aalto, Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 50 431 7529
Maria Kekki, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 454 6820