Tomorrow and Friday, Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen will be in Zagreb, Croatia, to exchange on energy and housing affordability with national and local authorities, and to participate in the Central and South-East European Energy Connectivity (CESEC) Ministerial.
As part of his country visit, the Commissioner will meet bilaterally with Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković. He will deliver a keynote speech at a conference titled ‘Affordable Europe – Energy and housing for a better life’ and then hold a bilateral with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, Branko Bačić. Ensuring energy and housing affordability are top priorities for the European Commission as many Europeans struggle with high costs of living. Later in the day, he will also discuss how to boost housing availability and affordability with the Mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, following the Commission’s proposal of the Affordable Housing Act.
On Friday, the Commissioner will take part in the ministerial meeting of the High-Level Group on CESEC, hosted by Croatia this year. CESEC meets annually at ministerial level to review progress and agree on the strategic energy priorities for the year ahead. It plays an important role in accelerating the integration of regional electricity and gas markets, increasing renewable energy deployment, as well as supporting the diversification efforts to phase-out the dependence on Russian fossil fuels, in line with REPowerEU objectives. The Commissioner will exchange on the importance of electricity interconnectivity, in particular on the proposed European Grids Package and the Energy Highways under discussion with the European Parliament and the Council, as well as on electrification, digitalisation, and addressing challenges the region is facing. A joint press statement of Commissioner Jørgensen, together with Minister of Economic Affairs of Croatia, Ante Šušnjar, is scheduled around 14:15 CET. Follow it on EBS.
