The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Alexis Vafeadis, referred to the possibility of disruptions in the supply of transport fuels, arriving at the extraordinary meeting of the Council of EU Transport Ministers via videoconference on Tuesday morning in Brussels. At the same time, he referred to the need to prepare at all levels of Europe's energy security with regard to the transport portfolio. The clear focus of the Accelerate EU energy plan that the European Commission will present on Wednesday, was noted by the Commissioner for Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, arriving at the Council.
In his statements, Mr. VAfeadis said that "we are facing the possibility - and I emphasize the word possibility - of a shortage of transportation fuels. This evolving geopolitical crisis in the Middle East has highlighted that Europe may face a short-term problem in fuel supply, and we must discuss this, we must be aware of it. But we also have, in the medium and long term, a demand issue, and this must be neutralized."
He also touched on the importance of preventing panic. "To be clear, what I'm saying is that we need to be prepared to avoid gas station lines if they ever happen, but we also need to permanently eliminate the possibility of gas station lines. And that's part of the discussion I hope we'll have today," he said.
The timing is critical in view of the upcoming European consultations, noted Mr. Vafeadis, saying that "it is timely and comes at the ideal time in view of the upcoming meeting of our leaders in Cyprus in a few days. It will feed into this discussion and I believe it will be a good and productive discussion."
In response to a question from CNA about the possibility of a shortage of aviation fuel, the Minister said that "we are not in a dangerous situation. We have not reached this point, we are facing the possibility. But you understand that if this happens, it will affect connectivity, it will affect every citizen of the Union, so we must be aware, we must be ready and that is the point."
For his part, Commissioner Tzitzikostas referred to the Commission's new energy plan, in response to the wider impact of the crisis in the Middle East. "The crisis in the Middle East affects all modes of transport in EU Member States. The European Commission will present an energy plan tomorrow, Accelerate EU. It will have a particular emphasis on transport fuels, with a clear focus on aviation fuels for obvious reasons. I will present our ideas to ministers today," he said.
At the same time, he referred to the need for joint European action. "Of course, we need to work together to address the consequences of the crisis in the Middle East and mitigate the impact of rising costs on citizens and businesses. But we also need to work together to make our transport systems and supply chains more resilient to future price increases and disruptions. I look forward to the interventions of Ministers and the concrete proposals, in order to address these urgent issues today," concluded the Transport Commissioner.
Source: KYPE
