In the lead up to the upcoming reform of the European gas sector, major European and Romanian
decision-makers (including Miguel Arias Cañete, EU Commissioner for Climate and Energy, Anton
Anton, Romanian Minister of Energy, and Dominique Ristori, Director General – DG ENERGY,
European Commission) signed yesterday a political declaration recognising the role of gas in the
transformation of the EU’s energy system.
The declaration calls for a strong role for conventional gas infrastructure in the decarbonisation ofthe
energy system, identifying that gas has the characteristics to store energy, be used for transport and
be used by certain sectors that would be challenging to electrify.
This comes is in stark contrast to the binding international commitments made by the EU in the Paris
Agreement and the Commission’s own goal to decarbonise Europe by 2050.