We must forget the idea of ​​the national market and Romania’s self-sufficiency in terms of energy, as long as we are on an interconnected European market, said on Thursday the President of the Competition Council, Bogdan Chiriţoiu, quoted by Agerpres.

“The war is an opportunity for us to make Europe rethink things we wanted and were hard to come by, such as the issue of nuclear energy. Some in the country are too optimistic. We are not very interested in Europe’s green agenda, it is more forcefed to us. There are people in the country who think we can re-discuss it, but in reality I don’t think it’s possible. The good news is that nuclear, which was endangered until last year, is now open, and our position in the EU has been strengthened. Hydrocarbons will continue to be endangered, and I think it is an illusion that we will be able to continue mining for the long term. Decoupling from Russia makes nuclear necessary, but it reinforces the idea that we need green energy. So I don’t think the Union’s plans can be broadly re-discussed, and our plans to close down mines will stand. Maybe we’ll get a one-year, two-year postponement, but that’ll be the direction”, a sub lined up Chiriţoiu.

The energy transition, although complicated, is not a danger for Romania, he added.

“We are still thinking about a national energy market and we are thinking about energy self-sufficiency, but we are no longer there. The existing interconnections are big enough to talk about a European gas market, a regional electricity market, and the crisis with Russia has shown the need for interconnections. We need to forget about the idea of ​​a national market and Romania’s self-sufficiency and see how we can make the most of our strengths and meet our needs in a European and regional energy market,” said the competition official.