Europe needs secure, affordable and sustainable energy for all - the integration of power generation, heating, cooling, buildings, transport and ICT is part of the solution.
At a workshop in the European Parliament on 6 April, vice president of the EU Commission and commissioner in charge of the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, MEPs and European energy stakeholders offered their views on the Energy Union and why integrated energy solutions are the future of the energy sector.
The workshop marked the launch of the European Parliamentary Network on Energy Solutions, an initiative started by Morten Helveg Petersen, Vice President of the European Parliament committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE committee) and MEP (ALDE, DK), together with founding members from four different political groups in the European Parliament and member states, including Angelika Niebler (EPP, DE), Miroslav Poche (S&D, CZ), Ian Duncan (ECR, UK), and Claude Turmes (Greens, LU).
The network reaches out across political parties and groups and to key stakeholders within the energy business to "break down the silos and bring people together [to work] on creating solutions for the benefit of European consumers," explained Petersen.
A "tsunami of legislation" to create a European Energy Union will be presented by the European Commission in 2016. Taking a "horizontal approach", the Energy Solutions Network aims to help the EU shape a highly efficient and sustainable energy framework for the future.