EC outlines ambitious plan for energy union

The European Commission on Wednesday set out its strategy to achieve an energy union with a forward-looking climate change policy.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker saw a single energy market, core aspect of the Energy Union, as one of his top priorities.

"For too long, energy has been exempt from the fundamental freedoms of our Union. I want the energy that underpins our economy to be resilient, reliable, secure and growingly renewable and sustainable," Juncker said.

EC Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic called the new plan the most ambitious European energy project since the Coal and Steel Community.

Sefcovic said the strategy will integrate 28 European energy markets into one Energy Union, make Europe less energy dependent and give the predictability that investors so badly need to create jobs and growth.

"Today, we set in motion a fundamental transition towards a low-carbon and climate-friendly economy, towards an Energy Union that puts citizens first, by offering them more affordable, secure, and sustainable energy," Sefcovic said.

The EU is the largest energy importer in the world, importing 53 percent of its energy, at an annual cost of around 400 billion euros.

To improve energy security especially since the gas shortage threats from Russia due to Ukraine crisis,the EU has sped up their pace on establishment of more secured energy market.

According to the EU's plan,one of priorities for the Energy Union is meeting electricity interconnection target.

The European Council has called for all member states to achieve interconnection of at least 10 percent of their installed electricity production capacity by 2020. This means that each member state should have in place electricity cables that allow at least 10 percent of the electricity that is produced by their power plants to be transported across its borders to its neighbouring countries. Endit