The Slovenian EU Presidency Conference held as part of the Sustainable Energy Week 2008, launched by the European Commission, enters its second day in Brussels. Tomaž Jeršič, the State Secretary at the Ministry of the Economy, spoke on behalf of the presiding country at the round table on energy cooperation in South-Eastern Europe.
Mr Jeršič spoke about a highly topical European energy issue that Slovenia would like to highlight during its Presidency, namely energy cooperation with neighbouring regions, placing particular emphasis on the Western Balkans. “Energy-wise, the Western Balkan countries are of major importance to the European Union not only in terms of security of supply but also in terms of the energy corridors that cross these regions,” he said. He stressed that the stable economic development of those countries brought political stability and that the stability of the South-Eastern European energy market had implications for the stability of the energy market of the EU.
“The European Union must set an example and assume responsibility for ensuring that neighbouring countries participate in meeting sustainable energy targets,” said the State Secretary, adding that cooperation with neighbouring regions was key to achieving greater effectiveness in meeting EU targets. Since the Western Balkan countries have great unused potential in the field of sustainable energy sources, the legislative framework providing for the use of these sources and providing stability for investment must be developed. “The implementation of the Treaty establishing the Energy Community is an important step towards attainment of this goal and will be placed at the forefront of Slovenia’s activities during its EU Presidency,” said Mr Jeršič.
At the morning session of the Conference, experts discussed issues related to the energy market and to renewable and sustainable energy. In the afternoon, a debate will be held on future energy prospects.
To find out more about the event, go to: http://www.eusew.eu/ 
