Energy diplomacy: Commissioner Arias Cañete participates in the Euro-Mediterranean Forum on Energy

Today, theEuropean Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete participates in the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Energy Meeting in Rome, a key forum under the Union for the Mediterranean to foster energy cooperation on both shores of the Mediterranean. A Ministerial Declaration endorsing the work carried out over the year will be adopted, opening the way for concrete projects and initiatives at regional level. Commissioner Arias Cañete said: “Today’s outcome will help us further strengthen the special bond between the EU and our Mediterranean neighbours. Energy can be a token of prosperity, and the Mediterranean region has an untapped potential to become a major energy hub and provider of clean energy.”TheUnion for the Mediterranean energy cooperation is based on three platforms covering three priority policy areas: natural gas; integration of electricity markets; renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Euro-Mediterranean Platforms are meant to be an effective instrument that, under the coordination of the Union for Mediterranean co-presidencies, organizes and supports a systematic dialogue of all the concerned public and private stakeholders. The purpose of the Platforms is to provide a permanent forum for discussing energy policy objectives and measures, with a view to identifying concrete partnership actions and following-up on their implementation.On the sidelines of the forum, Commissioner Arias Cañete will meet with his counterparts from the Eastern Mediterranean to discuss the region’s potential to become an energy hub. In addition, he will meet with ministers from Tunisia and Italy to find ways to accelerate electricity cooperation between both countries.