Special correspondence from Brussels – Dan Cărbunaru, Robert Lupițu
POLITICO Europe, the main European media actor, organised this week (16 September) an event focused on ”Energy Visions – Dash for Gas: Energy Diplomacy and Diversification”, where as key speakers were invited Adina Vălean, Vice President of the European Parliament and MEP of the Year for energy sector, Miguel Angel Caneta, European Commissioner for Climate Change and Energy and executives from Shell and E.On companies.
At the end of the conference, Simon Taylor, Editorial Events Manager at POLITICO offered a brief interview for CaleaEuropeana.ro, speaking about the main conclusions of the event, the importance of a European approach on energy issues, but also about POLITICO’s role in the media market in Brussels.
Dan Cărbunaru (D.C.): Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and our followers on CaleaEuropeana.ro. We are in Brussels today joining a very important event about the future of energy in the European Union, dash for gas and an important event organized by Politico Europe, the main voice of the European media. After speaking with the European commissioner of Energy, Miguel Angel Caneta and Mrs. Adina Vălean, member of the European Parliament and focused on energy issues, what can you tell us about this event?
Simon Taylor (S.T.): I think it showed off some of most important issues. One is how much gas will Europe need in the future and there are different views on this. We learned from the Lithuanian Energy minister who said that they built and NLG terminal to import liquefied natural gas from the world and they actually made Gazprom to cut the gas prices in order to compete. It showed off very clearly that the more East you go the more dependent countries are on Russia, on Gazprom. It’s very much a security issue. For Western Europe it’s question of what role can energy efficiency imply. Those who called for important debates and I think the Commissioner has a very pragmatic attitude, underlined that it is important for an energy mix, to invest time and efforts to security supplies, but you should also invest in infrastructure, interconnection and you could have a more competitive market. That way you can reduce the monopoly power of a supplier like Gazprom and make sure that you have security of supply in winter when energy becomes a politicised issue.
D.C.: POLITICO it is one of the key players in the media market in Europe. How important is the role of media in these talks about energy issues? Sometimes it appears to be a technical or political issues but it has very important social effects.
S.T.: I think POLITICO is here in Brussels for a reason, because we identified Brussels as a centre of power and of important decision-making that affects energy companies. At this event we had executives from Shell and E.On, because decisions that are taking here in the European Parliament, by MEPs like Mrs. Vălean affect energy companies whether there is the emission trading system, whether it is the internal energy market, whether it’s interconnections, whether it’s reverse flows. Brussels is an important centre for the energy policy and POLITICO reflects that. This is why we have a specialised newsletter, a daily newsletter focusing on energy issues.
D.C.: It seems that POLITICO, after entering in Brussels, started to change the way how the media role will be played. I saw some articles in the British media regarding the day that Politico journalists are making their job. How are the journalists of Politico integrating themselves in this area?
S.T.: I think there is being a slightly differential tradition in the European and political reporting, maybe to much difference to the Commission and the MEPs. POLITICO’s approach will be fair, but critical and when we will see things that are not going well we will speak that. Our style is aiming to be readable, accessible to people who are not EU or Brussels experts as we call them. So they are people who across Europe and across the 28-Member States, but also from the US or Asia can follow what is going on in Europe. There is a lot of interest in the decisions being taken here and to follow it in a readable and accessible way – that’s POLITICO’s mission. I think it is one we are on the way to achieving.
D.C.: Thank you so much. For the final remarks what is your message for the Romanians citizens interested in European and global affairs? Tens of thousands of them are following us on Facebook, on Twitter on our website. What is your message for ”Romanian consumers” of European information?
S.T.: I looked at your website when we got in touch about this event and I was very impressed about the coverage and it seems like a very useful resource and I would say to your viewers to carry on watching, start watching if they haven’t done so, but there a lot of sources out there. So, combine them and get a richer picture.
D.C.: Thank you so much and we wish you success on what you do in Brussels.
S.T.: Thank you!
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Simon Taylor is Editorial Events Manager at POLITICO.
Previously, Simon held a similar role at European Voice, where he served as news editor between 2010 and 2012 and senior reporter between 2006 and 2010.
He has written for the Guardian and the Sunday Times and was Brussels correspondent for IDG News Service in 2004-06.
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