Investment in a European Energy Market to Benefit its Citizens

European Union today faces many challenges that influence its appearance, consistency including the ability to find common solutions. Strengthening confidence in the common European project, developing its tangible benefits and removing barriers are the key values, to which Slovak presidency wants to contribute. In the energy sector, it is the Energy Union, which has the potential to become an important player to achieve these objectives. Building the Energy Union with emphasis on completion of the internal energy market ensuring higher competitiveness, and reliable energy supply from low-carbon sources at affordable prices, has therefore become the key priority of our presidency.

An integral part of the Energy Union is an ambitious climate change policy. Paris Agreement of 2015 confirmed the transition trend towards low-carbon economy. The appropriate system setting of the EU ETS trading scheme is therefore very important for the EU, and it should function as the cost effective tool to encourage investment into low-carbon technologies, while taking into account the differences in the energy mix and
economic structure in the EU.

New energy market design, as one of the most important initiatives of the European Commission in the field of energy policy, has to reflect the changing landscape of the EU electricity market, as well as the transition to low-carbon economy. It has to ensure cost effective and safe integration of RES and better involvement of customers to provide reaction on the demand side. We need to tap the potential of digitalization as well as deeper between regional electricity markets. Completion of the necessary infrastructure allowing cross-border flows and full integration of low carbon sources, in particular RES, into energy system is a precondition for achieving the EU energy and climate targets.

Ensuring sufficiently robust and safely operated infrastructure is the key area, where
the adequate investments are needed. In order to build functioning electricity network able to provide services to increase low-carbon variable production with the necessary backup sources, efficient cooperation among all actors is necessary, Member States, European Commission, TSOs and ENTSO-E. We should ensure progress in the implementation of current projects of common interest with an emphasis on projects aimed at removing critical bottlenecks and unplanned flows in our region. Timely implementation of PCI projects is essential in this regard. Long-term vision and stability are fundamental to provide sufficient certainty for investors. It is equally important to enhance cross-border cooperation of individual transmission system operators within ENTSO-E.