On 14-16 July 2004, Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of relations with the European Parliament, Transport and Energy, visited Turkey at the invitation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül.
In the course of her visit, the Vice-President met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gül, Minister of Transportation M. Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources M. Hilmi Güler, parliamentary representatives and the President of Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA).
During her meeting with Vice Prime Minister Gul Loyola de Palacio underlined that “Turkey is a strategic partner for the EU as regards the security of energy supplies. It is an important bridge for the transit of gas and oil from the Caspian basin and the Middle East to the Balkans and the EU. In this context, cooperation between the EU and Turkey and other Black Sea and Mediterranean partners is essential for the improvement of energy security and maritime safety”.
While expressing her satisfaction at the Government’s strategy for implementing the reforms in the energy and transport sector and the significant progress already achieved, the Vice-President underlined the necessity of continuing with the ongoing reform process and the importance of EU assistance. In this context, the Vice-President launched a twinning between the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) and the Italian energy regulator. Loyola de Palacio also announced the start up of EU assistance to Botas for the reform of the natural gas sector, including gas transmission and transit, given Turkey’s key position a gas hub. She highlighted that, bearing in mind the abundant sources in the regions to the south and east of Turkey, the realisation of connections with producers such as Egypt, Syria and Iraq, could permit Turkey to play a key transit role as projects such as the “Nabucco” project (Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria) and the Turkey-Greece-Italy gas interconnection project were developed.
As regards the transport sector, the Vice President confirmed the importance of the ongoing reorganisation of the Turkish rail and road transport sectors. She called for a quick implementation of the reforms and underlined the high importance that the European Commission attaches to maritime safety. In this context, she confirmed that an agreement was reached to develop a joint analysis aimed at identifying the possible technical options for addressing the challenge of the growing bottleneck posed for the maritime transportation of oil by the Bosphorus.
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
