In her welcome address to the participants of the conference, the President pointed out that an integrated EU internal energy market could substantially reduce energy prices and would improve the EU's competitiveness. It is estimated that if the EU becomes a fully integrated market it could save tens of billions of euros a year in electricity costs. Therefore, according to the President, politicians should work towards building an accessible and secure EU internal energy market.
"More than ever, the European Union should invest in power links and competitive local manufacturing as it is the only way to reduce dependence on external supplier. It is also vital to complete as soon as possible the EU's internal energy market and to end the energy isolation of some EU regions. We must work together to ensure lower consumer prices for energy," the President said.
She underlined that it is crucial to speed up building a European Energy Network and to complete the Projects of Common Interest by 2020. It is also essential to start planning for the continuation of the Connecting Europe Facility, analyze the implementation of the Projects of Common Interest, and apply modern low-carbon technologies.
The European Commission has placed on the priority list 15 Baltic projects, including 6 projects from Lithuania such as enhancing the Lithuanian-Latvian gas pipeline capacities, constructing the Lithuanian-Polish gas pipeline, synchronizing the Baltic energy systems with the West European networks (LitPolink 1 and LitPolink2), increasing the capacities of the Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant. The projects will receive funding under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020.
The President also accentuated that the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) is a good example of regional cooperation which must be strengthened across the EU, as power could be generated and used more rationally at a regional level.
According to the President, only by sticking to coordination and solidarity policies and resisting various pressures the European Union will create an effective and integrated European energy network.
