Meeting with Director Marie Donnelly of DG Energy: Empowering EU citizens in the energy market

Following the EU Council Approval of the 2030 Climate and Energy Framework in October and the start of the new EU Commission, the Cooperatives Europe energy group including Rescoop.eu, The Co-operative Energy (UK) and DGRV (Germany) organised a meeting with the Director to discuss next steps in EU energy policy. The EU Commission is increasingly recognising the  importance of local and regional energy initiatives, in particular through cooperatives, in providing answers to the EU’s energy challenges of a cost-efficient, secured and safe energy market. The EU is on the road towards transforming the EU energy market with the energy transition as a key element.

Director Donnelly is particularly interested in the efforts done by cooperatives to link the issues of increasing the renewable energy share and achieving the necessary energy savings. The upcoming consultation on the EU’s retail energy market will be a great opportunity to bring forward cooperative solutions to empower EU consumers/citizens.

Klaus Niederlander, Director of Cooperatives Europe commented: “The energy question concerns every citizen in Europe. That’s why we have to involve them in shaping  the energy transition towards clean, safe and cost-efficient energy. The energy issue is above all an issue of empowerment and the cooperative model is just doing that.”