Malta’s Presidency of the EU Council will come at an exciting moment for the country, with the coming online in the next few weeks of the new gas-fired power station that will enable the country to attain a complete breakaway from the use of heavy fuel oil, minister Konrad Mizzi has told a conference in Bratislava.

The EU conference is discussing the energy union and the transformation of the energy system with the new Research, Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy.

Dr Mizzi sat on the panel which discussed the Energy Union's headway and its challenges.

The progress of the Energy Union project was assessed by the Vice-President of the European Commission for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, and representatives from the trio presidency governments - the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta.

Dr Mizzi drew parallels between the Energy Union and the energy situation in Malta, saying that the reforms undertaken in the last three years in Malta were in perfect synchronisation with the objectives of the Energy Union. He said that the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU will come at a critical juncture of this ambitious EU project and that Malta will do its utmost to register progress on the recently launched package of legislative proposals by the European Commission “Clean Energy for all Europeans”.

The people, he said, should remain at the centre of this Energy Union project and there has to be a coordinated effort to bring this project closer to European citizens as they are ultimately the end-beneficiaries of these reforms.

In this context he explained how power tariffs had been reduced in Malta and how polluting power stations were being closed, drastically reducing CO2 emissions and particulate matter.