On 21 and 22 January, the joint informal meeting of Energy and Environment Ministers under the French Presidency took place in Amiens, France. Cyprus was represented by the Director General of the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry Mr. Marios Panagides and the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Mr. Andreas Gregoriou.
During the first day of work, the issue of Fair Transition in the context of the implementation of the "Fit for 55" legislative package was discussed, as well as the role of forests and wood products in the EU's environmental, energy and climate policies.
Regarding the issue of Fair Transition and the new "Fit for 55" package, Mr. Panagides expressed the view that in order to contribute to the achievement of the energy transition targets and meet the challenges of social justice, Member States should be given the right to set their own course and achieve the targets on the basis of their own technical and financial capacities.
With specific reference to the Social Fund for Climate, Panagides said that any funding should be properly and fairly distributed. For Cyprus, he pointed out, higher funding is justified in order to alleviate the cost of the energy transition in the energy-intensive sectors of building infrastructure and road transport. In this regard, Panagides added that Cyprus is disproportionately affected by transition costs, calling for a special focus on vulnerable households and energy poverty in each Member State.
On the issue of the role of forests and forest products in environmental, energy and climate policies, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Andreas Gregoriou, noted that it is important that the price of forest products reflects their impact on the environment, biodiversity and their use in carbon sequestration. The production of these products, he said, should be limited and there should be incentives for their reuse and recycling.
On the second day of work, the issues of rising energy prices, the role of energy savings in Europe's new energy strategy "Fit for 55" and the EU's hydrogen strategy were discussed. The Director General of the Ministry of Energy in his interventions mentioned that for the supply of electricity at affordable prices, the physical integration of Member States' interconnections with neighbouring markets should be ensured. He also argued that transitional technologies and fuels play a very important role in the green transition.
On the issue of energy savings, he noted that Member States should be given the necessary flexibility to achieve their targets in the most cost-effective way and to take into account the different economies of scale of each country.
Finally, on the issue of the EU's hydrogen strategy, Mr. Panagides pointed out that any future initiatives on hydrogen should aim at designing a market that has both a strong legislative framework and a strong interconnection network to ensure the proper functioning of the internal energy market.
(NG/SX)
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