Russian-EU Energy Dialogue to Aim at Creating United Europe

The energy dialogue between Russia and the European Union aims at creating united Europe, director general of the European Commission for energy and transport Francois Lamoureux said, when speaking at the conference on Russian and EU energy strategies.

The Russian-EU energy dialogue had already achieved certain results, he pointed out. Among them he named European companies' investments in Russia. Now Russia and the EU intend to work out mechanisms to provide "certain guarantees to European investors," Lamoureux added. Russian companies in their turn will be able to enter the European market in a few years "with equal rights of access," he said.

Yet another important direction of energy cooperation is long-term contracts for gas deliveries, Lamoureux believes. By now "the parties have clearly defined the scale and the contents of these contracts," he said.

Yet another important direction of the energy dialogue is "defining common projects in the infrastructure," according to the EU representative. He was referring to the network project Transbaltika, which "in the future will become a priority for Russia and the EU." Apart from this, Lamoureux pointed to the need to ensure security of sea transportation. Europe "is deeply anxious about the problem," as 90 per cent of European energy carriers are imported by sea, he explained.

"In the future Russia and the EU should create an integrated energy community that will be able to meet the demand of all consumers at affordable prices," he said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko, who spoke after Lamoureux, emphasized that "the last point was a fairly serious task that would require discussion and thorough work."