Energy dependence as a weapon The final step for energy politics toward the top of Europe’s political agenda was, of course, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. It struck Brussels like a hammer and completely changed the discourse of EU law-making; first and foremost, everyone realised that our energy dependence is a weapon that can be turned against us. Discussions over climate ambitions in the individual law files disappeared; across the board, more ambitions crept into the files. As much as the backdrop - the war in Ukraine - is sad and terrible, it definitively gave Europe’s green transition a boost. I have been lucky to be in European energy politics for ten years of explosive development. As I leave the European Par- liament, energy politics is perhaps more interesting than ever, but it leaves no regrets with me. Europe’s green transition is
sion presented its Fit for 55 package in the summer of 2021, a comprehensive law package designed to reduce the EU’s net target GHG emissions by at least 55 % by 2030. It was all energy policy, and the next few years should bring me back to working with energy efficiency in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as well as the electricity market. However, I began with the EU Offshore Renewables Strategy, for which I became the lead negotiator. I was keen on this file in particular because of the Danish potential and the opportunity to make Denmark a net exporter of green electricity due to the optimal condi- tions for offshore wind power in the North- and Baltic Seas. Also, in the Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy, much focus was on cross-border cooperation, which is so crucial for a suc- cessful European electricity market, and I was delighted when countries around both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea later agreed to enter precisely such cooperations.
Morten’s energy files for the last two periods:
2016 REPORT on an EU Strategy on Heating and Cooling
2018 REPORT on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
2019 REPORT on a European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators REPORT on the internal market for electricity (recast) REPORT on common rules for the internal market in electricity (recast) REPORT on common rules for the internal market in natural gas REPORT on the re-use of public sector information (recast)
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker