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National Action Plans on
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources –
Implementation and Perspectives for the Czech Republic

Workshop for national stakeholders, 21 February 2012, Prague, Czech Republic

Event Report

EUFORES organised a workshop on national renewable energy and energy efficiency policies under the auspices of the Vice-President of the Senate Alena Gajdůšková on 21 February 2012 in the Czech Senate. The workshop was especially organised for Senators, Members of the Chamber of Deputies, civil servants from the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Industry and Trade and several other relevant stakeholders. A high-ranking official of the European Commission, Marie Donnelly, and a representative of the Coalition for Energy Savings, Adrian Joyce, attended the workshop and contributed their valuable experience from the EU level.

Marie Donnelly (European Commission), Pavel Gebauer (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Jan Geiss (EUFORES), Adrian Joyce (Coalition for Energy Savings), Zuzana Musilová (Czech Photovoltaic Association) and Alena Gajdůšková (Vice-President of the Czech Senate) participated in the first round of the workshop. Some speakers looked into the benefits of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, others introduced national renewable energy and energy efficiency policies or made critical comments on the legislative acts and technical procedures in the Czech Republic.

The participants were eager to discuss with Marie Donnelly who pointed out that the Czech Republic is one of four EU Member States which has not yet notified an indicative target on energy efficiency to the European Commission. Donnelly continued by emphasising the importance of having a clear framework, clear financial support in place for renewable energy and energy efficiency policies and no retroactive measures such as the tax of 23% which was adopted in the Czech Republic.

Czech MEP Pavel Poc chaired the second part of the workshop with the contributions from Alan Svoboda (ČEZ Director for Trade), Vladimír Vlk (Environment Ministry), Bronislav Bechník (Czech RE Agency) and Edvard Sequens (Green Circle). As the speakers represented different interests, their views reflected a certain polarization on those issues. However, review of the Czech energy mix was seen by most of them as necessary.

Finally, Jan Geiss (EUFORES) closed the workshop by encouraging the participants to continue the discussion in an open-minded spirit like that day. The workshop perfectly portrayed the situation in the Czech Republic. It was dynamic, intense, and provocative in its approach. Nevertheless, the question remains: What energy approach will the Czech Republic choose?  

Please find the programme in English or Czech.