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EVENTS

Roundtable proposes alternative to ROCs

Roundtable Chairman  Boris Schucht, CEO 50Hertz | Kamila Csomai, CEO Mavir | Reinaldo Garcia, CEO GE Grid Solutions

On 20 and 21 June 2017, the Roundtable for Europe’s Energy Future held several high-level meetings across EU institutions in Brussels. The Roundtable CEOs met separately with Commission Vice President for Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip and Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič to discuss the digitisation of the energy sector and regional cooperation. Further, the Roundtable CEOs met with Member of the European Parliament Claude Turmes to discuss the negotiations on the Clean Energy Package. In a meeting with Thor-Sten Vertmann, Head of the Energy Section of the Estonian Representation to the EU, the focus was on the upcoming Estonian Presidency. Finally, the Roundtable exchanged views on the Brexit negotiations with Jean‐Paul Decaestecker, who is currently working in the Task Force on the UK.

During the meeting with Vice President Šefčovič, a key focus was on the controversial proposals for Regional Operational Centres (ROCs). While the Roundtable does not fully agree with the Commission proposals, it clearly recognises that regional cooperation is in itself imperative and without alternative. The Roundtable fully believes that regional cooperation needs a bottom-up approach which ensures constructive cooperation without prejudice to national responsibilities. This is why the Roundtable presented the Vice President with an alternative solution.

Regional cooperation among TSOs on the technical and commercial level is already well-functioning in the EU. However, the Roundtable acknowledges the need for a political component which focuses more on cross-border policy and regulatory issues. This is why the Roundtable proposes combining the existing Regional Security Centres (RSCs) with an additional political layer. This political layer, in the form of regional forums, shall contribute to European market integration by allowing for better coordination of Ministries, NRAs, TSOs and other stakeholders. Meetings shall take place at least twice a year and membership in at least one forum shall be mandatory for each Member State. To ensure transparency, the outcome of the meetings shall be made public.


The Joint Messages, which contain the Roundtable’s key recommendations and were handed over during the meetings, can be found here.