UfM launches its Regional Electricity Market Platform

Barcelona, 12 October, 2015. Abdelkader Amara, Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment of the Kingdom of Morocco, hosted in Rabat, Morocco, the launch of the UfM Regional Electricity Market (REM) Platform. Miguel Arias Cañete, European Commissioner for Energy and Climate, Ziad Jibril Sabra, advisor to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Teresa Ribeiro, Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, presented the UfM REM Platform to representatives of UfM members and stakeholders.

The establishment of three high level UfM Energy Platforms on Gas, the Regional Electricity Market (REM) and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEE) was agreed by the Union for the Mediterranean Senior Officials Meeting last March. The purpose of the UfM Platforms is to provide a permanent forum of regional dialogue for discussing energy policy objectives and measures, with a view to identifying concrete partnership actions and following up on their implementation.

The overall objective of the UfM Regional Electricity Market Platform is to promote the gradual integration of electricity systems and markets in the Euro-Mediterranean region. A working meeting of the UfM Platform took place after the opening ceremony and provided the opportunity to discuss the platform’s work programme for 2016-2017. The discussion featured contributions from MedReg (Mediterranean Energy Regulators) and Med-TSO (Association of Mediterranean Transmission System Operators).

Energy is a key sector and a major concern on the international agenda (the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include as Goal no. 7 “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”) as well as in the Mediterranean region. Improved regional cooperation on energy is therefore crucial to develop a Mediterranean of shared prosperity and to enhance integration and stability. Hence energy has been at the core of the UfM Secretariat mandate since its inception. The Secretariat of the UfM is best placed to structure regional dialogue in the field of energy in order to better serve the interests of our citizens in the Mediterranean region.