Minister O'Brien attends Energy and Environment Councils in Luxembourg

With under 9 months to go to Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O'Brien, attended the Energy and Environment Councils in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday this week.

Before the Energy Council, Minister O'Brien co-chaired — with Spain's Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard — a meeting of the 'Friends of Renewables' group, which consists of 15 EU Member States. The group met with the European Commission to discuss the forthcoming European Grids Package. The Grids Package will enhance grid resilience and electricity interconnection between Member States, which will be critical to enable the expansion of the renewables sector and achieve more affordable energy prices for consumers.

Ministers agreed the Council's position on the REPowerEU proposal to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports. Ireland fully supports this important measure as the security of the EU energy market can only be achieved by ensuring that Russia cannot weaponise gas supply to EU countries. Minister O'Brien also reaffirmed Ireland's strong support for Ukraine and condemned the full-scale invasion and illegal war that Russia is waging against Ukraine.

At the Environment Council today, Ministers agreed on the EU’s negotiating position for the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 30, which is crucial to ensuring that Europe maintains its position as a leader at next month's conference in Belém, Brazil.

ENDS