Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council of the United States, the Prague Security Studies Institute, and the Clingendael International Energy Program at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations held a dialogue of government, industry and non-governmental policy experts on June 16-18, 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic.  This conference examined current efforts to transform the supply and consumption of energy to create a sustainable energy future for Central Europe that addresses an integrated goal of energy security, environmental responsibility and economic prosperity. A conference agenda is available here.

This initiative will seek to further the understanding on how to maximize benefits of US-EU cooperation for the Visegrad 4 countries and the region at large. The workshop will bring together U.S. and European business leaders and public policymakers in a dialogue designed to increase the understanding of the issues related to the development of a coherent policy on energy security in Central Europe from the perspective of the United States, the European Union and the regional governments.

Highlighted Speakers

Mirek Topolanek, Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic	Douglas C. Hengel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, Sanctions and Commodities, U.S. Department of State	Václav Bartuška, Ambassador at Large for Energy Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic

 

Mihaly Bayer, Ambassador and Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy	Urban Rusnak, Project Leader, Project External Energy Security of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovakia	Franklin Kramer, Vice-Chairman, Atlantic Council

 

Michael Hogan, Program Director for Power, European Climate Foundation
Maciej Wozniak, Special advisor on energy to the Prime Minister of Poland
The Honorable Branko Terzic, Chairman United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) and Energy & Resources Group, Deloitte Services LP
Peter Taylor, Head of Technology Policy Division, IEA, France
Christopher Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy, US Department of Energy
Luboš Pavlas, CEO, Czech Coal
Laszlo Varro, Senior Vice-President for Strategy, MOL, Hungary
Dominique Mockly, Sr. Executive VP, International Marketing and Sales, Areva
Michael Kirst, Regional Vice President, Central and Eastern Europe, Westinghouse Electric Company
Juan F. Villarreal, Director of Commercial Operations & Marketing, Babcock & Wilcox - Modular Nuclear Energy
Simon Bennett, Program Manager, EU Policies, EU CCS Project Network Manager, DG Energy, EU Commission
Joseph Strakey, Chief Technology Officer, National Energy Technology Laborotory US Department of Energy
Václav Pačes, Former President of the Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
Reka Szemerkenyi, Former Foreign Policy and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Hungary
Coby van der Linde, Director, Clingendael International Energy Program at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations

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Background

To successfully create a consistent, but not necessarily identical, set of transatlantic policies and regulations that will support continued economic growth and a vibrant energy market, the particular requirements of European member states need to be considered and understood. The “US-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Energy Security: Ensuring Physical Security of Supply, Environmental Responsibility and Economic Prosperity in Central Europe” focuses on deepening the understanding of these differences, how they will affect future policies and what specific cooperative steps should be taken to ensure the availability and affordability of environmentally responsible energy. 

This conference is the second in a series of workshops designed to broaden the discussion of energy issues to include the business community, governmental organizations and civil society organizations on both sides of the Atlantic.  The initial workshop was held in Brussels on May 28-29, 2009, and was entitled a “Shared Vision for Energy and Climate Change.”  The conference addressed many of the intertwining relationships between energy security, environmental degradation and economic prosperity, and positive possible ways forward for the transatlantic community.  A report, A Shared Vision for Energy and Climate Change: Establishing a Common Transatlantic Agenda, was released shortly after, and synthesized a number of the these discussions and provided policy recommendations for leaders in government and politics.   

The Atlantic Council’s Energy and Environment Program explores the economic and political aspects of energy security and supply, as well as international environmental issues. It promotes open access and clean air and offers policy recommendations to meet developing countries’ needs through the increased flow of capital, technology and know-how in the energy and water supply sectors.  Other recent Energy and Environment reports include: strengthening the U.S.-China relationship on clean coal technologies and nuclear power, deploying smart grid technology in the transatlantic community, and developing a balanced U.S. energy portfolio.

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Presentations (in PDF format)

Session I

• Jean-Arnold Vinois, Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
• Mihaly Bayer, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security, Embassy of Hungary

Session II

• Anita Orban, Energy Policy Expert
• Jean-Arnold Vinois, Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
• Peter Taylor, Head of Technology Policy Division, IEA

Session III

• Balazs Felsmann, CEO and Owner, Force Motrice
  
• Marcel Lauko, Director Energy Centre Bratislava

Session IV

• Bartosz Wojszczyk, Global Smart Grid Technical Leader, GE Energy
• Matthew Mason, Energy and Utilities Executive CEE, IBM
• Pavel Solc, Chief Advisor to the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic
  
• Robert Gee, President, Gee Strategies Group, LLC

Session V

• Christopher Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy, US Department of Energy
• Laszlo Varro, Senior Vice-President for Strategy, MOL
• Pavel Docekal, Regulatory Affairs, RWE Transgas

Session VI

• Emad Hassan, Principal, Nexant Inc
• Peter Taylor, Head of Technology Policy Division, IEA

Session VII

• Dominique Mockly, Senior Executive Vice President of International Marketing and Sales, Areva
  
• Petr Zavodsky, Director of Nuclear Power Plants Construction, Areva

Session VIII

• Agata Hinc, Project Leader “Low Emission Economy,” demosEUROPA -Center for European Strategy
• Clifford Aron, Principal, Greenmax Capital
• Joseph Strakey, Chief Technology Officer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, US Department of Energy
• Lubos Pavlas, CEO, Czech Coal Group
• Simon Bennett, European CCS Project Network Manager, DG Energy, EU Commission

Session IX

• Peter Sevce, Member, Energy Security Institute
• Reka Szemerkenyi, Former Foreign Policy and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Hungary
• Vaclav Paces, Former President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic