WE, THE ENERGY MINISTERS AND REPRESENTATIVES of the members and observers of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation (P-TECC), convened on July 24, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania and endorse this Statement of Principles:
- We note Central and Eastern Europe’s resilience as the region adapts to a new energy security landscape and diversifies away from Russian energy sources and progresses towards regional energy transition goals. A united and steadfast Trans-Atlantic relationship is vital to ensuring energy security and prosperity, especially in light of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
- We reaffirm our enduring commitment to support Ukrainian partners in their efforts to defend, repair, and rebuild energy infrastructure destroyed by Russia and to support the energy security of the Republic of Moldova through joint European and Trans-Atlantic efforts.
- We acknowledge that Central and Southeast Europe plays a crucial role in Europe’s energy diversification, security, resilience, and sustainability.
- We value the efforts of the European Commission in P-TECC and in Europe-wide efforts to build consensus, partnership, and support for mutual energy security, in promoting stability and transparency in global energy market, and in accelerating energy transitions away from unabated fossil fuels in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.
- We recognize the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) and Lithuania, as its current President, as an important mechanism to enhance our joint efforts on energy infrastructure development, technical cooperation, and investment.
- We recognize energy efficiency is the first fuel and an essential element of any clean energy transition while remaining committed to accelerating investments in renewable and clean/zero-emission energy sources, industrial decarbonization, and the establishment of secure, diverse, responsible clean energy supply chains.
- We support a variety of energy technologies and dedicated transition periods to meet our collective climate and energy security goals toward achieving global net zero emissions. We acknowledge that each country can choose its path towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions considering their national specificities.
- We affirm that P-TECC’s body of technical, policy, and project support will underpin a just clean energy transition, emphasizing job creation and economic growth, for all P-TECC partners.
- We affirm the emerging need for technical collaboration in cyber and physical security of energy infrastructure to respond to emerging threats from adversaries and extreme weather.
- We commit ourselves to convene a P-TECC Ministerial regularly to track our progress, adapt to the changing needs of the region, and identify new ways to meet the challenges of our energy future, and direct that future towards meeting our common climate stabilization goals.
- We encourage the ongoing participation of relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, in P-TECC and will seek a means for deepening and enhancing their involvement.
- We express our deep appreciation to the Government of Romania for hosting a successful P-TECC Ministerial in 2024 and look forward to the coming year of P-TECC work.
Endorsed this day 24th of July 2024 in Bucharest, Romania.
List of attendees: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, European Commission, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, United States of America
Public Release.