About: Maroš Šefčovič
Seven EU nations miss climate and energy plan deadline
Seven EU member states have missed an end-of-2018 deadline to submit draft energy and climate plans to the European Commission, which are essential to the bloc’s overall targets for 2030, as well as commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
EU agrees on 37.5% CO2 reduction for cars by 2030
EU negotiators on Monday evening (17 December) agreed on CO2 emission rules for cars and vans, as the Austrian presidency of the EU defied expectations and brokered a compromise.
Socialists entrust Timmermans to replace Juncker at EU helm
Europe’s socialist parties on Saturday (8 December) chose Dutch politician Frans Timmermans to lead them in May elections and to succeed his boss Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission. Delegates voted in Timmermans, currently first vice president of the EU’s powerful...
EU’s Sefcovic: Real risk that ‘raw materials become the new oil’
Europeans have to be “very vigilant” that today’s dependency on imported oil and gas is not replaced by dependency on lithium, cobalt, copper and other raw materials that industries need for the green transition, Maroš Šefčovič told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Sefcovic: We want to be carbon neutral
With its Clean Energy package, the European Commission wants to combat climate change, further develop the internal market for electricity and promote a carbon neutral future with a concept. EURACTIV Germany spoke to Maroš Šefčovič.
Timmermans to be Socialist Spitzenkandidat after Sefcovic withdraws
Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans will be the lead candidate of the Party of European Socialists in next year's EU elections, the party announced on Monday (5 November) after his rival Maroš Šefčovič withdrew from the race and backed the Dutchman instead.
Bill Gates launches EU clean energy ‘breakthrough’ fund in Brussels
The newly-established €100 million fund will help innovative European companies bring “radically new” clean energy technologies to the market, including the “holy grail” of batteries, the European Commission said.
Elmar Mammadyarov : Azerbaijan’s EU relation is of strategic nature
In a wide-ranging interview, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov discussed his country’s relations with the EU, major energy and transport projects, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and relations with global players.
Timmermans, the right-hand of Juncker, eyes EU throne
Frans Timmermans confirmed on Wednesday (10 October) that he wants to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission next year, dismissing concerns that he has made too many enemies to stand a fighting chance of succeeding his current boss.
Great Expectations from COP24’s Polish hosts
Poland’s turn at holding the UN’s annual climate summit is meant to be the one shot at making the Paris Agreement a reality. But the hosts also want to make sure “no-one gets left behind” by what promises to be a major societal change.
‘It’s the housing, stupid’: How homes harm our health
Most of Europe’s buildings are over forty years old and are largely inefficient. Poorly insulated, leaky buildings have a real impact on inhabitant and worker health, according to the latest edition of the Healthy Homes Barometer.
Rethinking transport: Driving Europe towards sustainable mobility
As cutting emissions out of transport gains in political and scientific importance, Diego Garcia Carvajal writes during European Mobility Week that the time is ripe to embrace electric cars on a grand scale.
Austrian ex-chancellor Kern to run for centre-left Spitzenkandidat
As expected, opposition leader Christian Kern said yesterday (18 September) he would run as top candidate for the Austrian Social Democrats in the European Parliament elections next year, aiming to help build a strong counterweight to growing nationalist forces.
Sefcovic officially enters the Spitzenkandidaten battle
Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič announced officially on Monday (17 September) his candidacy to be the leading candidate of his social-democrat political group in the campaign for the 2019 European elections.
‘Chicken and egg’ electric cars spark debate about battery charging
Carmakers and e-mobility advocates continue to be at odds over whether lack of choice of electric vehicles or lack of charging infrastructure is the main thing holding Europe back from embracing a transport revolution. A new study insists that there are chargers-a-plenty already.
EU and Ukraine in tug of war over Naftogaz unbundling
The European Commission has repeated its insistence on breaking up the Ukrainian national gas and oil monopoly Naftogaz, separating transmission from production and supply, which the country had agreed to as a condition for receiving massive Western financing.
Over A Coffee with Maros Sefcovic
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič meets with EURACTIV’s Sam Morgan over a coffee to talk about Europe’s climate policy, Nord Stream 2 and why he thinks he can succeed Jean-Claude Juncker in the top job.
Will Slovak coal giant benefit from EU’s clean energy transition efforts?
The European Commission chose the Trencin region in Slovakia as a pilot for its new initiative to support the transition away from coal in Europe’s regions. Coal company HBP wants to take advantage of the EU initiative – while keeping coal mining in the region.
Finns Stubb and Katainen leave door open to EU Commission top job
Former Finnish prime ministers Alexander Stubb and Jyrki Katainen left open the possibility on Saturday (9 June) that they would run to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the EU executive’s president next year.
EU energy chief eyes Commission top job
Slovakia's member of the European Commission declared his candidacy on Monday (4 June) to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the EU executive's president, promising to try to ease tensions between western states and newer members from the ex-communist east.
Blossoming batteries boosted by EU plan
Batteries and storage are set to become even more important as electro-mobility and renewable energy go from strength to strength. That is why EU efforts are meant to help the burgeoning industry compete against the likes of China and electric carmaker Tesla.
Sefcovic: ‘Amazed’ by leaps forward in electric vehicles
Electric vehicles have come on in leaps and bounds since Commission Vive-President Maroš Šefčovič launched the Energy Union back in 2015. Now, he's expecting the integration of renewables and the redesign of the electricity market to boost the EV revolution even further.
Europe’s attempts to spark an electric vehicle revolution
Transport is one of the EU’s few sectors where emissions are actually growing. Brussels believes that electric vehicle uptake is one of the main solutions to halt this trend but what steps are being taken to decarbonise our roads?