FM Presents Commission to Tackle EU Energy Issues
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel presented on Monday the Caucasian-Caspian Commission which would draft a plan for future relations between the Caucasian-Caspian region and Europe. It will focus on European neighbourhood policy and related aspects of the EU energy issues, Rupel said at the sidelines of EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
"European neighbourhood policy has a strong energy dimension due to diversification of gas and oil imports, so it needs a more aggressive engagement in the Caspian region", Rupel said.
A new policy would include more investment in new power lines and gas pipelines connecting the EU with the Caucasian-Caspian basin.
The EU has to enhance the dialogue with neighbouring countries in the east all the way to the Caucasus, which is a bridge to Central Asia, said Rupel. He added that the Caspian region was extremely important for energy supply to the EU.
It is therefore logical that Slovenia will pay particular attention to the issue, said Rupel, pointing out that the sidelines of today's meeting featured a session of the Caucasian-Caspian commission.
The commission, which is presided by Rupel, will draft by the end of the year a report on how it views the relations between the Caucasian-Caspian region and the EU.
According to Rupel, one of the commission's aims is to find a new approaches to a peaceful solution of conflicts in the region.
The commission is to hold three plenary sessions - at the sidelines of the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on 12 February, then in Ljubljana in May, and finally in London in November.
The sessions will be a follow-up to the Caspian Outlook 2008 conference held in Slovenia last year, Rupel added.
After the meeting of EU foreign ministers, European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that European neighbourhood policy should be separated from the enlargement policy.
"Despite the fact that it is not aimed at the EU expansion, an important feature of the policy is that the neighbouring countries enjoy certain benefits, security and stability," said Ferrero-Waldner, adding that in such way the EU could do more at bilateral and multilateral levels.
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