On December 13, 2023, a public lecture on the topical issue of «Innovation and energy» as components of the European Union’s energy policy» was held by Michal Tratkowski, an expert of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy,
During the speech, the speaker talked about the energy policy of the European Union, and the functioning of the Energy Union, which is focused on achieving five key goals, namely:
- diversification of energy resources;
- integration of the internal market;
- energy efficiency;
- decarbonization;
- promotion of innovations.
Michal Tratkowski paid special attention to the issue of fighting energy poverty, recommendations for reducing its scale and mitigating the consequences in the EU. The expert emphasized that the energy efficiency and renewable energy are defined as components of the strategy to tackle energy poverty within the EU. The expert paid a lot of attention to a number of ambitious initiatives of the European Union in the field of climate change prevention, such as the Communiqué on the implementation of the Fit for 55, RePowerEU (A plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition dated May 18, 2022). They also discussed:
- problems of the functioning of the internal European gas and electricity market, energy infrastructure and new joint projects, in particular in the Baltic Pipe;
- the external dimension of Brussels’ energy relations through the prism of EU energy diplomacy;
- the EU sanctions regime introduced against Russia’s aggression and the weaponization of its energy resources, and its support by Poland;
- components of EU energy policy (innovation and competitiveness, nuclear energy, EU Research and Innovation Strategies, which provide for the promotion of EU strategic autonomy, restoration of European ecosystems and biodiversity, and transformation of Europe into a digital, circular, climate-neutral and sustainable world economy);
- EU strategic energy technologies – renewable energy, energy systems, energy efficiency, sustainable transport (electric vehicles) and nuclear safety.
More than a hundred participants, including students, faculty, and participants of the EU_LEAD project, attended the lecture by Michal Tratkowski, the expert of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy. Students of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Republic of Poland, also joined the event at the initiative of Professor Teresa Astramowicz-Leyk, a member of the EU_LEAD team and the organizer of this public event.
Students were interested in the question of whether the EU is able to overcome the global energy crisis if it occurs, as well as successful cases of the implementation of innovations in the EU energy sector, which can be useful for the new model of Ukraine’s energy policy, taking into account the trends of the European Green Deal and the European integration process of our country.
The event was held within the framework of the project «EU Global Responsible Leadership: Climate Change, Environmental Protection and Humanitarian Aid» (EU_LEAD), which is supported by the EU Erasmus+ programme, Jean Monnet Actions.
More detailed information about EU_LEAD can be found on the project website within the Lviv Polytechnic Portal.
