European Commission Daily News – 26 March

COLLEGE MEETING: European Commission appoints Mr David O’Sullivan as Special Adviser to the President on EU-US relations

The European Commission has today decided to appoint David O’Sullivan, former EU Ambassador to the United States of America, as Special Adviser to President Jean-Claude Juncker on EU-U.S. relations. In this capacity, he will advise the President on strategy and priorities in relations with the U.S. Mr O’Sullivan was the Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2014 to 2019. Previously, he was the Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service (EEAS), in charge of its establishment at the time. Mr O’Sullivan’s career includes a number of senior positions within the European Commission: Chief of Staff to Commission President Romano Prodi (1999-2000) and Secretary-General of the European Commission (2000-2005). He also has extensive experience in trade policy as Director-General for Trade (2005-2010) and Chief Negotiator for the Doha Development Round. (For more information: Alexander Winterstein – Tel.: +32 229 93265; Andreana Stankova – Tel.: +32 229 57857)

Clean Energy for All Europeans: Commission welcomes European Parliament’s adoption of new electricity market design proposals

New rules making the EU’s electricity market fit for the future and putting the consumer at the centre of the energy transition have been signed off by the European Parliament today – an important step in enabling the European Union and its Member States to embrace the clean energy transition, follow up on the already adopted 2030 climate legislation and meet the Paris Agreement commitments. With the completion of these last four legislative acts, the negotiations on the Clean Energy for All Europeans package are concluded and the EU is on the right path to decarbonise its economy in the second half of the century while maintaining its global competitiveness and creating growth and jobs. Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “I thank the European Parliament for its strong support for the clean and fair energy transition, taking the EU a step closer towards delivering the Energy Union with citizens at its core, one of the key priorities President Juncker set out for this Commission. Today’s approval of the new electricity market design will make energy markets more flexible and facilitate the integration of a greater share of renewable energy. An integrated EU energy market is the most cost-effective way to ensure secure and affordable supplies to all EU citizens. I am particularly pleased that we have agreed on a common framework for capacity mechanisms that will ensure such mechanisms will be in line with our climate objectives in the future while taking into account legitimate security of supply concerns.” Today the European Parliament completed the parliamentary approval of the new Electricity market Regulation and Electricity market Directive as well as of the Regulations on Risk Preparedness and on the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). The Governance of the Energy Union Regulation the revised Energy Efficiency Directive, the revised Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive have already entered into force last year. The full press release is available online. (For more information: Anna-Kaisa Itkonen – Tel.: +32 229 56186; Lynn Rietdorf – Tel.: +32 229 74959)

Commission registers two new traditional specialties guaranteed

The European Commission has approved the application for listing “Sheep hay milk” and “Goat hay milk“ in the Register of Traditional Guaranteed Specialties (TSG). The denominations are protected in German, English, Italian, French and English, namely ‘Schaf-Heumilch’ / ‘Sheep’s Haymilk’ / ‘Latte fieno di pecora’ / Lait de foin de brebis / ‘Oveja hene leche’ and “Ziegen-Heumilch” / “Goat’s Haymilk” / “Latte fieno di capra” / “ Lait de foin de chèvre” / “Cabra heno lettuce”. Haymaking is the most natural form of milk production. The milk comes from animals from sustainable traditional dairy farms and the production of hay milk does not use any fermented food. The “Traditional Specialty Guaranteed” label emphasizes tradition rather than origin and refers to products whose composition or means of production have a traditional character. This new name will join more than 1445 already protected products whose list is available in the DOOR database. For more information, see also the quality policy pages. (For more information: Daniel Rosario – Tel: +32 2 29 56185, Clémence Robin – Tel: +32 229 52 509)

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