Adamkus gets gassy

  • 2008-03-18
  • By Mike Collier
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President underlined theimportance of new energy interconnections with isolated EU energymarkets

BRUSSELS - President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus attended the closing session ofthe European Council meeting March 14 after a day spent lobbying for an extension of the operating life of the Ignalina nuclear power plant.

Heads of the European states agreed onthe guidelines for the new stage of implementation of the Lisbonstrategy and on further actions in the fields of energy and climatechange.

"European Council conclusions reflected an approachparticularly important to Lithuania in the effort to strengthenenergy security and external energy policy of the EU and individualMember States," said Adamkus after the meeting.

This November, the EuropeanCommission shall submit an assessment of a strategic documentconcerning the security of supply, the necessary interconnections andfurther actions towards the development of an external energy policy.The European Council intends to adopt the relevant decisions by the nextspring.

On the onset of a new stage of implementation of the Lisbonstrategy, Heads of the European states recognised the need to makemore effort to guarantee a reliable supply of strategic energyresources.

"They agreed on the importance of an efficient and integrated EUinternal energy market as a prerequisite for a reliable energysupply. They also acknowledged the need to accelerate theconstruction of the required energy bridges," said a summary from the presidential press office.

"President Adamkus reiterated the problems faced by isolated energymarkets and called on the European Commission to consider newprojects in this field, especially in the gas sector," the statement concludes, indicating that Adamkus is hedging his bets on future energy supply.