The XXth meeting of the European Electricity Regulatory Forum took place in Florence on 23 and 24 May 2011. The Electricity Regulatory Forum, or Florence Forum, was set up to discuss the creation of a true internal electricity market. It is currently addressing cross-border trade of electricity, in particular the tarification of cross-border electricity exchanges and the management of scarce interconnection capacity.

Participants include national regulatory authorities, Member State governments, the European Commission, transmission system operators, electricity traders, consumers, network users, and power exchanges. Since 1998 the Forum has meet once or twice a year.

Established by Regulation (EC) No 663/20091, the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) is one of the major initiatives taken by the EU to address the global economic and financial crisis which erupted in 2008. It co-finances a selected portfolio of energy projects with a view to sustaining capital expenditure in the European economy while helping to achieve key EU energy and climate policy objectives.

Following the launch stage, which was thoroughly described in the first implementation report of April 2010, the EEPR has entered the implementation stage. The second implementation report states that since the first report on implementation of the EEPR was published in April 2010, considerable progress has been made.

Dear visitors, friends! Experts of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine have provided Information on Main Indicators for Development of Energy Sector Industries of Ukraine for March and 3 months 2011 (http://mpe.kmu.gov.ua).

Energy policies of Member States will have to be harmonised, even after the implementation of the EU’s Energy Strategy 2020; therefore the objectives should be identified until 2030, and then to 2050, stressed National Development Minister, Tamás Fellegi, during the informal meeting of EU Energy Ministers, held in Gödöllő, on 3 May 2011.

The meeting was focused on Energy Roadmap 2050, which aimed at the establishment of a low carbon energy system, and the EU’s external energy relations.

In the framework of the EU assistance to Ukraine with regard to support to the implementation of Ukraine’s Energy Strategy in the area of energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine announced call for proposals for energy efficiency projects to be financed by the EU grants.

In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must: be legal persons and; be non profit making and; be non-State actor (NSAs) or be Ukrainian local authorities responsible for the administration of cities of raion subordinance and; be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as an intermediary.

On 18 April in Kyiv with a two-day visit came the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. At the meeting with the with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych they discussed important issues of the Ukraine-EU relations, in particular finalization of an Association Agreement between Ukraine, including negotiations on deep and comprehensive free trade area. Inter alia they also touched upon energy issues.

Ukraine is an important partner of the EU in the energy sector. This was confirmed by Barroso after the meeting with the President of Ukraine. Barroso said he could not comment on bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia and could not comment on court proceedings in Ukraine, as it would be wrong, but assured that in energy sector cooperation Ukraine remains a very important and close partner for the European Union.