State of the Union: Portugal can “play a very important role” in energy diversification
New measures during the European Union (EU) to support the European Union (EU) crisis to support the European Union crisis and new community means to fight fires were three of the points that marked the speech of Ursula von der Leyen the State of the Union 2022 On the words of the President of the European Commission, addressed this morning to the citizens of the 27 Member States from Strasbourg, Tiago Antunes considers that they were of a “political, inspiring and mobilizing” nature.
The Deputy Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, during the analysis debate still released, this evening at SIC Notícias Portugal, in partnership with Spain, “can provide [energia] to the rest of Europe”, but that, for that, it will be necessary to continue to focus on “interconnections” with the other Member States. “Portugal can play an important role. It could be an alternative source of supplying energy sources to Europe, he stressed.
It is recalled that a commission presented this Wednesday a new package of measures to combat energy and increase the efficiency of the price of electricity, increasing the value of gas. These include a 10% reduction in electricity consumption by the end of March 2023, a temporary cap on electricity producers’ revenues and a defined “solidarity contribution” to oil companies. With regard to the natural gas reserves of EU countries, which were asked to guarantee a minimum level of 80%, Tiago Antunes once again stresses that “in Portugal we have 100% of our gas reserves guaranteed”.
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A “Europe united by values”
- A specialist in Monica Relations believes that Europeans remain focused on supporting Ukraine and believes that it is necessary to “show that Europe is united by values”.
- Despite recognizing that Poland will not be able to defend “peace soon”, Poland needs to pay attention to the “and of “Member States” in several Member States – such as Sweden or Italy, which will have possibilities coming soon – to ensure that countries comply with Russia’s application.
- Commission Representative of the European Commission in Portugal, Sofia Moreira de Sousa says that the “EU has shown itself to be up to the challenge” created by the war and sees in the measures on the energy sector a way of “encouraging the production of alternative energies”, as well as of guarantee citizens’ “access” to energy “at prices they can afford”.
- On the opportunity of an energy transition accelerated by the armed conflict, representative for Portugal, Tiago Antunes says that the country has “enormous potential in the production of green hydrogen”. He looks at the creation of the European bank of president, suggested this Wednesday by the commission, as a positive step towards energy independence.
- Following the path of union and cooperation between the European Union7, the European Commission also confirmed the strengthening of the community response to fires with the purchase of 10 planes and 13 helicopters. “Portugal has this increased risk [de incêndio] and it is important for us to know that we can count on additional resources when, and if, we need them”, added the Secretary of State.