EUROGAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE : “ENSURING COMPETITIVE, SECURE AND SUSTAINABLE NATURAL GAS FOR EUROPE”

27 September 2006

Eurogas, the European Union of the Natural Gas Industry held its annual Conference on Friday 22 September 2006 in Brussels.

The Conference was opened by Willy Bosmans, President of Eurogas, under the banner of ‘competitiveness, security of supply and sustainability’.

The opening session included presentations by senior representatives from the European Parliament, the International Energy Agency and the Energy Charter.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs addressed the audience on key issues raised in the Green Paper on sustainable, competitive and secure energy. The first part of the Conference was dedicated to security of supply and dialogue with producing areas outside the EU. It was co-chaired by Jean-Marie Devos, Secretary General of Eurogas, and by the European Commission DG TREN.

The afternoon session focused on relations between Europe and the Mediterranean basin, and between the EU and Russia, with dialogue and partnership forming part of the agenda. Leading representatives from Italy, the Russian Federation, the Netherlands, Germany and France presented their views on future strategies for natural gas, and took part in a joint discussion.

The Conference’s second theme was “The Internal Market – Which Way Forward?” and gathered speakers from the European Commission DG COMPETITION and DG TREN, from the European Regulators’ Group for Electricity and Gas, as well as senior industry representatives from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The full programme and proceedings of the event are available at http://www.eurogas.org/preview/frameset.asp?page=07