A public consultation is now open on the European Commission's Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) strategy. It asks people to give their opinions on how effective, coherent and efficient the TEN-E strategy is, and to assess its EU added value: the benefits of acting at EU rather than national level. It is open for twelve weeks and will close on 4 September.
The strategy aims to help EU governments and companies to better interconnect electricity and gas infrastructure across national borders. This will result in a more competitive and sustainable European energy market, with improved security of supply. The strategy is intended to promote the development of cross-border infrastructure projects and to remove potential obstacles to them such as lack of public acceptance and problems with accessing finance.
As part of the TEN-E strategy, the Commission has identified nine priority corridors and three priority thematic areas. The priority corridors are areas covering two or more EU countries where urgent infrastructure development in electricity, gas or oil is needed. The priority thematic areas – smart grids deployment, electricity highways, and a cross-border carbon dioxide network – cover the whole EU. Infrastructure projects launched in these priority corridors and areas under the strategy can apply to become Projects of Common Interest (PCIs). These are identified as essential for completing the European internal energy market and boosting the supply of affordable, secure and sustainable energy in the EU, and are eligible for access to funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and a range of other benefits.
Currently public consultations are also open on projects that have been submitted as candidates to the PCI list in the areas of electricity and gas infrastructure (deadline: 19 June), oil and smart grids (deadline: 26 June), and cross-border carbon dioxide transport (deadline: 15 August).
'Clean Energy for All Europeans' package
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