EUROPEAN ENERGY COOPERATION

AA - 07.04.2022 - European ministers in Budapest call for more energy cooperation

The Hungarian State Secretary for the Development of Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy urged for better natural gas and energy cooperation on Thursday to mitigate price fragility in the short term.

Attila Steiner, who spoke during the Gas Infrastructure Europe annual conference in Hungary's capital city Budapest, emphasized the importance of cooperation in different sectors, particularly for electricity generation.

'I think that cooperation in natural gas could transform the fragility in prices to more balance in the short term,' he said.

Slovakia's Minister of Economy Karol Galek also noted the importance of energy resource diversity while recommending an emergency plan be put in place.

Up until now, Europe has not announced an energy emergency plan. However, the latest figures show that Europe's gas storage capacity is only 26% full.

And with Europe importing around 40% of its gas from Russia, it is imperative that better cooperation to ensure the security of supply and efficiency is formalized.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia has had heavy sanctions applied. However, as Europe is heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies, the continent faces energy supply concerns and high prices in the mid-term.

'We should consider options, such as hydrogen and liquefied natural gas more,” Galek said.

'We must cooperate. We must have plans, but most importantly, we must have an emergency plan,' Galek said.

Czechia Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Rene Nedela also implored countries to increase cooperation not only at the European level but also at the NATO level.

Adam Guibourge-Czetwertynski, the undersecretary of the Polish Minister of Climate and Environment, called for “critical investments” to construct new terminals and interconnectors to enable independence from Russian sources.

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