L-R: Laurent Michel (France); Mariette Van Empel (Netherlands); Pascal Lehance (Wallonia); Claude Turmes (Luxembourg); Gilles Caspart (Luxembourg); Paula Pinho (European Commission); Christophe Schreyer (Switzerland);
Credit: MEA
On 21 and 22 October 2019, the energy ministers of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries gathered at Neumünster Abbey in Luxembourg-Grund for an international conference on electromobility.
Organised by Luxembourg's Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning and Ministry of Mobility and Public Works along with the Benelux secretariat, the conference focused on addressing the development and challenges of electromobility.
On this occasion, Luxembourg's Energy Minister, Claude Turmes, and Mobility Minister, François Bausch, were joined by their counterparts from the Pentalateral Forum (France, Germany, Benelux, Switzerland and Austria), along with the Minister of Energy, Climate and Mobility of Wallonia, Philippe Henry, and the Director of the Swiss Department of Energy, Benoît Revaz.
Some 20 experts from the region were also present to help the ministers address two dimensions of electromobility development: the spatial and sectoral dimensions. The former dealt with operating and coordinating electromobility at the regional level, whilst the latter was a question of how to coordinate the manufacturers' technological offer within the constraints of available charging points and electricity.
Among other things, the ministers and experts discussed the issues of cross-border accessibility of charging station infrastructure, information that is accessible to customers and the adaptation of the electricity network to electromobility. They ultimately decided to continue their work within the Pentalateral Forum and to make an annual follow-up at the ministerial level to accelerate the development of this sector in view of the EU's decarbonisation objectives on the basis of the Paris agreements and the 2050 net-zero carbon target.
