Vice-President Šefčovič in Finland for second Energy Union Tour

From 12-13 October, Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič will be travelling to Finland for the second Energy Union Tour. The Vice-President will meet Kimmo Tiilikainen, Minister for Housing, Energy and the Environment, and members of the EU Committee of the Finnish Parliament. He will also join a roundtable discussion on the Energy Union with representatives of the Finnish energy industry and visit a biorefinery run by the company UPM in the town of Lappeenranta. Here he will also take part in a Citizens’ Dialogue. During his visit, discussions will be focused on the Energy Union, the financial instruments it will make available to Finland to support development activities and energy innovation, and the country’s national energy and climate plan. Ongoing improvements to energy interconnection infrastructure in the Nordic and Baltic regions will also be on the agenda. Ahead of his visit, Vice-President Šefčovič said: “I am pleased to see that Finland has already made excellent progress towards its energy efficiency and renewables targets for 2020 and is demonstrating its potential to be a leader in clean energy innovation. In addition, I look forward to discussing the Baltic Connector pipeline, which is scheduled to be operational by 2020 and is partly funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. It will end Finland’s gas isolation and lead to a more competitive wholesale and retail gas, in addition to enhancing the region’s security of supply.” Upcoming dates and more information on the 2017 Energy Union tour are available here. More information on the Energy Union is available here.