Pavol Szalai
Austrian Green MEP: Gas is a better transition alternative to coal than nuclear
The new government in Vienna will aim for “an end to nuclear energy” in the EU, Thomas Waitz told EURACTIV Slovakia. The MEP-elect and Green Party negotiator also calls on the EU to acknowledge that Poland will need financial support in the transition away from coal.
EEA chief: ‘We need systemic-type environmental policies’
You can never reach a decarbonised economy by making the combustion engine perform better and become more efficient, says Hans Bruyninck. Breakthrough technologies, not incremental efficiency gains, will bring Europe to its 2050 objectives, he argues.
Cash for clean air: Between unbankable projects and unpopular measures
EU cohesion funding for environmental measures has not been spent as planned and EU member states are reluctant to apply the “no environmental harm” principle. EURACTIV Slovakia reports. “If you think the economy is more important than environment, try holding...
Implementing clean air rules the eternal problem, as EU countries told to raise game
Industry, agriculture and transport were asked to decrease air pollution at a high-level EU forum in Slovakia on clean air but the responsible ministers and new Commissioners were absent from the Bratislava event.
Transport committee chair: Kerosene is a European ‘tax haven’
The European Parliament's transport committee head, Karima Delli (Greens), spoke about the need to completely overhaul the transport industry to combat climate change, the next transport Commissioner and France's pick for EU internal market chief, in an interview with EURACTIV Slovakia.
Michael Ignatieff: Hungary will not be a single-party state forever
The democratic transition is not over in Central and Eastern Europe and we will continue our mission of training people and creating "free minds, people who think", Michael Ignatieff, a Canadian academic and president of the Central European University, told EURACTIV Slovakia.
French Minister: ‘There is a long way to go’ on eurozone budget
France wants to make access to European funds conditional on the European minimum wage and respect for the rule of law, the state secretary for Europe, Amélie de Montchalin, told EURACTIV Slovakia in an interview.
There is no real ‘European foreign policy’, says former EU diplomat
The EU does not have a real 'European foreign policy' because every country works on its own and member states do not want to give full responsibility to the EU's High Representative, a former senior French and EU diplomat told EURACTIV Slovakia in an interview.
Visegrad countries fight to keep pace with e-mobility transition
Central Europe falls under the EU average of electric vehicle market penetration. But it doesn’t want to be left behind by the global trend, leaping into battery production and dreaming even bigger. EURACTIV's network partners report.
Eickhout: Next step for Europe is a ‘Green New Deal’ for industry
Europe must adopt an ambitious industrial policy aligned with its climate agenda by investing in clean technologies, and introducing a carbon tariff at the EU’s external border in order to protect industries against environmental dumping, says Bas Eickhout, the lead candidate for the Greens in the European elections.
Green tech expert: ‘Car ownership is nonsense’
The sharing economy can kill two birds with one stone by lowering the cost of green technologies and reducing polluting emissions, cleantech expert Radoslav Mizera told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Activist: Poland’s ‘just transition’ declaration is just posturing
The just transition declaration adopted at the COP24 in Poland sounds good but it is not connected to any kind of climate ambition or specific energy projects involving local communities, Alexandru Mustata told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Foratom: ‘Balance of power in the EU is shifting against nuclear’
Eastern EU countries have a positive opinion of nuclear energy while others like Belgium and Spain are shifting against, says Yves Desbazeille. The big question for the industry is whether Germany will turn even more anti-nuclear than it already is, he says. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
French analyst: ‘Nord Stream 2 won’t be built as planned’
Ukraine should decrease its transit fees if it wants to undercut the business case for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bringing Russian gas directly to Germany, says Thierry Bros.
Waste in the Visegrad Four: Poland leading the way
Despite progress in recent years, local circular economy efforts in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are still plagued by inefficient management, cheap landfilling and problematic reporting. EURACTIV's network reports.
US gas lobby chief: A lot of LNG can come to Europe through Poland
There is a strong possibility that Poland will build a floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Gdańsk, according to Fred H. Hutchison, who says “a lot of gas” can come to Central European markets this way.
EU environment official: Clean air infringement proceedings are ‘a political decision’
The European Commission’s analysis of clean air measures adopted at national level are at a “very advanced stage”, said Daniel Calleja Y Crespo, who recently came to Slovakia for the Clean Air Dialogue.
Karins MEP: ‘Small-scale electricity producers don’t need special protection’
Unregulated electricity prices – and equal access to the grid for both large and small producers – are the only way to ensure higher share of renewables in the long run, says Latvian MEP Krišjānis Kariņš.
‘Yes, we can’: Franco-Irish research aims to boost green electricity intake
Power grid interconnections and system flexibility are key to integrate bigger shares of renewables. A Franco-Irish research project aims to produce a roadmap to deploy EU power grids that can handle more than 50% of electricity from intermittent renewable sources.
Seán Kelly MEP: Gas is ‘preferred option’ as back-up for renewables
Intermittent renewable electricity will need backup for at least the next 20 or 30 years, says Irish MEP Seán Kelly. As the least dirty among fossil fuels, natural gas is probably the most cost-effective and “preferred option,” he argues.
Slovakia considers exiting coal in 2023, Sefcovic eyes geothermal energy
While Energy Union boss Maroš Šefčovič is making a case for a transition to geothermal energy in the Upper Nitra region of Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico still believes in the future of lignite mining. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Statoil VP: ‘Natural gas has a home in the zero-carbon world’
Europe can decarbonise its industry thanks to a combination of natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage technology, Statoil executive Sonja Chirico Indrebø told EURACTIV Slovakia in an interview.
EU research looks into large-scale integration of renewables
EDF and EirGrid, the leading French and Irish energy companies, have won €20 million under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme to develop ways of integrating large amounts of intermittent renewable energy sources into the electricity grid.