The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)

Ministers at the Energy Council will also adopt Council conclusions on a consumer energy policy and on the Commission’s recent communication on the safety of offshore oil and gas activities. We broadly welcome the conclusions and expect them to be adopted without discussion. The Commission will then update the Council on a number of international energy relations events and on the state of play of the European energy recovery programme. The Greek delegation will also inform the Council of a “green energy development initiative” adopted at a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation Organisation in October.

In the morning of the Council, I will sign a memorandum of understanding on the North sea offshore grid initiative with colleagues from Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark and Norway. The MOU commits the signatories to working together to identify the barriers and explore ways of tackling a more co-ordinated development of offshore grids. It recognises the role that the renewable energy resources of the North sea can play in meeting the EU’s climate and energy targets and the benefits it can bring in terms of security of supply and market integration.

[Source]