India, EU discuss energy cooperation

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SME Times News Bureau | 05 Sep, 2013
Warning that competing for energy resources between the European Union (EU) and emerging economies would only push up prices, an European energy expert Wednesday called for cooperation towards energy saving.

"If we compete, we will only push up prices, and if we cooperate it will take us towards energy saving and devising technologies for greater energy efficiency," Jens Burgtorf, director, Indo-German Energy Programme (GIZ), said at a meet here on EU-India energy cooperation organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Burgtorf was speaking in the context of emerging economies like Brazil, China, India and South Africa becoming massive consumers of energy in recent years required to support higher growth and demand. The conference had presentations on EU's energy engagement with each of these countries.

Pavel Svitil, charge d'affaires of EU Delegation to India, spoke of energy cooperation being a key component of the EU-India strategic partnership, and of the Joint Declaration for Enhanced Cooperation on Energy between India and the EU made in 2012 to improve energy security, safety, sustainability, access and energy technologies.

Saying that there was a perception that the EU's views were diametrically opposed to India's on issues like energy security and environment, Gulshan Srivastava, professor of European studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said there was need for understanding how EU institutions worked and the impact of policy on member countries.

"We in India have to understand how EU institutions work, how things like the Common Energy Policy affect individual member countries," Sachdeva said.

He said the discovery of gas sources in EU countries has the possibility of changing the scenario towards freeing Russian gas for import by India.