This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Cabinet member meetings'.



Ref. Ares(2020)1479842 - 10/03/2020
From:
PINTO ANTUNES Jorge (CAB-WOJCIECHOWSKI)
To:
Cc:
; PINZARIU Simona (CAB-WOJCIECHOWSKI); Art. 4.1 (b) - privacy
Subject:
RE: Eurogas Meeting Follow up
Date:
17 February 2020 17:25:37
Attachments:
image001.png
Dear 
,
 
Thank you for your e-mail and the opportunity to hear from you on the role of gas in the European
Green Deal.
We take note of your suggestions and re-iterate our message that a carbon neutral EU in 2050 is an
opportunity for a sustainable growth strategy.
We look forward to continuing this discussion on ways to develop policy solutions to current
sustainability challenges.
 
Best regards, also on behalf of my colleague Simona,
 
 
Jorge Pinto Antunes
Member of Cabinet
Cabinet of Commissioner Wojciechowski
Agriculture
 
BERL 
Rue de la Loi 200
B-1049 Brussels
Tel 
 
 
 
From: 
 
Art. 4.1 (b) - privacy
 
Sent: Thursday, February 6, 2020 3:01 PM
To: PINZARIU Simona (CAB-WOJCIECHOWSKI) 
@ec.europa.eu>;
PINTO ANTUNES Jorge (CAB-WOJCIECHOWSKI) 
@ec.europa.eu>
Cc: 
 Art. 4.1 (b) - privacy
Subject: Eurogas Meeting Follow up
 
Dear Simona, dear Jorge,
 
It was a pleasure to meet you last week, thank you for spending time with us to discuss
the role of gas in the EU energy transition. It was interesting to hear your views on the
role of gas in the energy transition and we would like to reiterate our view of its
important role in reducing carbon emissions. We would also like to recall our key point
that we strongly believe that the message that gas is not eligible in the Just Transition
Fund impacts not only the willingness of EU member states to move beyond coal, it also
sends a message to the world that gas is not part of the climate solution. This is
increasingly worrying as the investments in coal power across the world are beginning to
grow and this is dangerous for the world and our global climate ambitions. It is important
that the European Commission continues to recognise the role that gas will play in
achieving our carbon reduction targets for 2030 and beyond, and in this regard we
believe that the Commission should be more unambiguous in its support for gas in the

coming decade.
 
We also agreed with and noted your interest in the need for gas itself to undergo a
decarbonisation process to support a carbon neutral EU in 2050. As we mentioned we
support this goal, provided there is a suitable framework for gas decarbonisation. In this
regard we would like to reiterate our call for EU wide binding targets for renewable and
decarbonised gas, supported with a harmonised system for trading guarantees of origin
across the EU. This system should also support and recognise the importance of
hydrogen produced from natural gas, utilising CCS technology. This is missing in the
current regulatory framework and should be brought forward in the forthcoming gas
legislation review.
 
We also believe that biogas will be an important economic opportunity for rural
communities and that with an increase in scale of biogas we can expect many more jobs
to be created in agricultural economic areas. We were pleased to hear that pillar 2 of the
CAP will continue to support biogas and thus recognise the role that biogas can play in
reducing CO2 emissions, but also methane emissions from agricultural activities. Eurogas
believes that biogas should be produced only from second generation feedstocks and
accepts that this may therefore be a limited form of renewable energy, but a recent
study estimates the potential to be around 120 bcm in 2050. This is around one quarter
to one third of the current gas market. This is not insignificant. We strongly encourage
you to continue supporting the development of biogas and supporting rural economies
to diversify their economic activities, while delivering on our climate ambition in the EU.
 
We look forward to continuing to exchange views with you over the coming five years
and look forward to working with you to deliver the potential of gas as a climate
mitigation tool and as a provider of jobs and growth for rural European communities in
the coming decade.
 
Best wishes