EU begins work to form Energy Union

The European Commission Wednesday launched work on the creation of an Energy Union seen as a major step towards the completion of single energy market in Europe.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the launch, European Commission Vice-President responsible for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic said "our current energy policies are unsustainable in every sense and in urgent need of reorganisation.".
He noted that the Energy Union Policy is one of the key political priorities of the current European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker.
"We clearly feel a very strong political momentum to work on this very important project because we are strongly dependant on energy imports; every year we are paying 400 billion Euros for energy being imported to the EU, it is more than 53 percent of energy we consume that comes from the third countries so it makes us also very much dependent and vulnerable," he noted.
"In short, the Energy Union will set the scene for a new way of making energy policy in Europe," he added.
The currently low oil prices are also giving an extra incentive and give more political and financial room to do what is necessary to achieve a more competitive, secure and sustainable European energy policy he noted.
Moreover, because of the situation in Ukraine the energy security element has been taken up to the forefront of the EU's political agenda, said the EU official.
The Energy Union framework strategy is scheduled for adoption on 25 February.