Workshop EU energy independence, security of supply and diversification of sources

How can we potentially tackle the EU gas import dependence, to enhance security of supply?

The aim of this assignment was to prepare a workshop on “EU Energy Independence, Security of Supply and Diversification of Sources”, offering a balanced picture of relevant views and opinions of professionals, target to describe and represent a geographical balance within the EU. The workshop was useful to evaluate the current and future EU gas import dependence and to identify and assess possible policy initiatives to enhance the security of gas supply in the EU by further diversification of sources and routes. The workshop presentations and proceedings were useful to support the ITRE Committee in its evaluation of proposals for review of EU legislation related to this topic.

The workshop took place at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels, on 6 February 2017. It was chaired by Mr. Jerzy Buzek, who introduced the workshop by emphasising the importance of security of energy supply for the EU economy, however the gas import dependency is currently high – and increasing  (53.5% in 2014 versus 45.5% in 1990). Moreover, some Member States rely on only one main gas supplier. The introduction was followed by five presentations from high-level speakers, providing different views on different topics within the subject of EU gas dependence. The workshop summary was also published on the European Parliament website.