EUFORES 18th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

19 & 20 October 2018, Palais Auersperg, Vienna, Austria

 

Parliament of Austria (closed due to renovations) 

IPM venue: Palais Auersperg (200m from Austrian Parliament)

On 19 and 20 October 2018, the 18th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting (IPM18 Vienna) took place in close co-operation with the Parliament of Austria and in the framework of the Parliamentary Dimension of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It was attended by 120 participants from more than 20 EU member states plus a delegation from the Western Balkan countries. More than half of the participants came from national parliaments and the European Parliament. Other attendants of this conference included representatives from national ministries, the European Commission, embassies and selected scientific and industry representatives.

Speakers included members of the European Parliament Jeppe Kofod (EUFORES President), Theresa Griffin (EUFORES Vice-president) and Davor Škrlec as well as member of the Austrian Parliament Johannes Schmuckenschlager and Secretary General of the Austrian Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, Josef Plank. According to Plank, we are investing a lot on renewable energies, but we are not investing in facing out fossil fuels. In addition, Peter Marland, Mayor of Milton Keynes (UK), highlighted the strength and speed cities can bring in making the energy transition a reality. 

General input on renewables in electricity was given by Michaela Holl (European Commission), Giles Dickson (WindEurope), Aurélie Beauvais (SolarPower Europe), Urban Keussen (EWE), Robert Brückmann (eclareon) and Silvia Angelo (ÖBB Infrastruktur AG). Moreover, Karol Galek (MP Slovak Republic), Matthias Buck, (Agora Energiewende) and Janez Kopač (Energy Community) spoke about the importance of regional cooperation in Central and South-East Europe. 

Furthermore, there were presentations on renewables in heating and cooling by Gerhard Dell (Upper-Austria Energy Agency), Christoph Pfemeter (Austrian Biomass Association), Nigel Cotton (European Copper Institute) and Lukas Kranzl (Vienna University of Technology) and another session with Oliver Rapf, (BPIE), Roger Hackstock (Austria Solar) and Ingo Wagner (DHC+). In addition, Paul Hodson (European Commission) presented the implications the EED and EPBD will have for energy efficiency.

The conference finished with a debate on “Energy Efficiency and the Clean Energy Package”, including panellists from different Member States such as Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov, members of parliament Cristina-Mădălina Prună (Romania), Eamon Ryan (Ireland) and Delian Dobrev (Bulgaria). They were joined by energy efficiency experts Adrian Joyce (EuroACE) and Nils Borg (eceee). As concluding remarks Deputy Minister Stankov stated “there should be one main pillar at the top of the Energy Union and that should be energy efficiency”. 

Please find the official IPM18 programme here:

  

Please find also the official IPM18 conference booklet here:

 

Speaker Presentations

Michaela Holl, Policy Analyst, Renewables and CCS policies, DG Energy, European Commission

Giles Dickson, CEO, WindEurope

Aurélie Beauvais, Policy Director, SolarPower Europe

Robert Brückmann, Head of the Policy Department, eclareon

Silvia Angelo, Member of the Board, Department of Finance, Markets and Services, ÖBB Infrastruktur AG

Matthias Buck, Head of European Energy Policy, Agora Energiewende

Janez Kopac, Director, Energy Community

Michaela Holl, Policy Analyst, Renewables and CCS policies, DG Energy, European Commission

Gerhard Dell, Energy Commissioner of Upper Austria, Managing Director, Upper-Austria Energy Agency

Christoph Pfemeter, Director, Austrian Biomass Association

Nigel Cotton, Director of Building Construction & Technology, European Copper Institute

Lukas Kranzl, Senior researcher at the Energy Economics Group, Vienna University of Technology

Paul Hodson, Head of Unit, DG ENER, European Commission

Oliver Rapf, Executive Director, BPIE

Roger Hackstock, Managing Director, Austria Solar

Ingo Wagner, Policy Manager, DHC+

 

IPM18 Feedback Questionnaire

We would appreciate if you took the time to give us a short feedback and fill in the feedback questionnaire in order to help us improve our events. 

IPM18 Pictures

A larger selection of pictures from both conference days can be found on Flickr here.

 

 

 






Photos: EUFORES / Marko's Photography

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