Energetski vrh v Zagrebu

Tole je moj (blog exclusive!) govor na Energetskem vrhu JV Evrope (novice). Kakšen vtis iz diplomatskega parketa pa morda kasneje med komentarji.

Excellencies,

Honourable Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here in Zagreb I am not only in a capacity of the representative of the government of Slovenia, my words will be also marked by the fact, that I am the minister responsible for growth and for sustainable growth. We believe one cannot have one without the other. Sustainable growth is one of the key pillars of the strategic documents of Slovenia and of the European Lisbon strategy.

To be honest, I'm not worried about the supply of carbon based energy … all oxygen in the atmosphere can somehow be burned by something that is in the ground, be it oil, gas, coal or something else. Oxygen was created by life and it sustains life … but now this life is becoming a threat to itself.

Having said that … the plan is not go back to stone age and caves … we are all responsible for growth in our countries and growth requires energy. Energy that is reliable, economic and clean.

I therefore welcome the efforts of President Mesić in organizing this summit which is in my opinion both timely in its design and location. The global demand for energy is on the rise and is set to increase by more than 50% by 2030. Such a dramatic increase of energy demand poses a threat not only to the global economy but to climate as well.

The Government of Slovenia outlined energy security as one of the key priorities for our upcoming EU Presidency in 2008 and is resolved to put in all the needed efforts to tackle energy issues from both the inherited agenda and our priorities. We will make every effort to further develop a comprehensive, coherent and consistent energy policy for Europe, based on the Action Plan adopted at the EU Spring Council in March 2007 which calls for significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and increase in reliance on renewable sources of energy.

It is our goal to improve and finalize the mode of cooperation with neighbouring regions, especially with the countries of Southeastern Europe and the Caspian Basin, as well as to enhance the energy dialogue with the Russian Federation. Moreover, successful implementation of the Treaty establishing Energy Community and with it constituting the internal market with the countries of Southeast Europe is of a high priority.

We intend to contribute significantly to the full application of energy acquis for Southeast Europe during our EU Presidency. It should be our common interest to dedicate our efforts to strengthen cooperation between the countries of Southeast Europe, through implementation of the Treaty establishing the Energy Community.

Slovenia is prepared to play an active role in the Energy Community, for example to host the Gas Forum or to base the regional Power market on the experiences with the Borzen energy exchange.

Slovenia is resolved to implement the guidelines of the Trans-European Energy Networks and support private initiatives for the construction of the necessary infrastructure, in order to support further diversification and liberalisation of the energy sector.

We also support an integrated approach to tackling climate change and plan to allocate more funds to improve energy efficiency. We no longer have the luxury to deliberate on our own energy policy alone. We need a drastic change in the way we use, and above all, think about energy. It is also necessary to hold an honest and clear-headed debate on nuclear energy and renewable green energy. Therefore Slovenia will welcome any initiative of countries around this table to extend the cooperation beyond the carbon based energy, because wind, sun and water are also not uniformly spread around the region.

The energetic sustainability requires much awareness raising, education, law making as well as challenging scientific research and technical development that calls for international cooperation and Slovenia would strongly support the cooperation within the region on these topics as well. After all, some of the key technological breakthroughs in energy technology were made by men from the region, such as Mihajlo Pupin, Nikola Tesla and Milan Vidmar.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the relatively small countries of the region have a weak voice when speaking about energy issues, we should strive to strengthen our cooperation through the available means and speak with a more unified voice in spirit of cooperation and act in a good neighbourly way when addressing the common issues regarding energy.

We therefore welcome very much president Mesic's initiative and the today's summit because it is establishing a solid foundation for further cooperation within the once troubled region, and beyond. The Zagreb meeting is giving this process an important momentum and demonstrates political will to create a basic frame of reference for global energy security - by acting timely and locally.