Deputy FM Kourkoulas participates in the EU General Affairs Council

The Council dealt with the preparations for the European Council that will convene on Thursday and Friday, October 23 and 24, as well as with EU’s strategic priorities in the sectors of freedom, security and justice, adopted during the Hellenic Presidency of the EC, according to a Foreign Ministry announcement.

Kourkoulas expressed his support to the Italian Presidency’s efforts to implement the strategic priorities, which concern important issues, including migration and security issues being created in EU member states by the presence of foreign fighters in countries of the Middle East.

Moreover, Kourkoulas participated in a teleconference with the President of the European Council, Van Rompuy, during which there was a discussion of the major issues that will be dealt with by the European Council later this week.

Kourkoulas underscored the importance of the timely adoption of a common European position on the vital issue of climate change, reaffirming Greece’s agreement to the goal of a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030, and adding that Greece supports the binding goal of renewable energy sources’ achieving a 27 percent share in the country’s energy mix – in tandem with a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency – by 2030.

He also underlined the importance of energy security on European level, as well as Greece’s support in this direction, not only through the new Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will carry Caspian natural gas to Europe, but also through the exploitation of domestic energy sources, which is proceeding at a rapid pace.

Finally, he reiterated Greece’s proposal for a mechanism for coordinating the supply of LNG in case of a crisis.