Europe must have common energy policies because, if we remain stuck in very local regulations, in opinions focused on national interests, we will lose this opportunity to have a robust, welfare-oriented Europe, said Alessio Menegazzo, CEO & country manager of PPC companies in Romania, on Tuesday.
„If we go back in time, we see that one of the pillars and founding visions of the European Union had defense and energy at its core (...) I really hope that this time we understand the lesson. I really hope that this time Europe will be a little bit more authoritative in energy matters towards the nation states - it has to be a common policy. Consumers are smarter than us, they are faster than us. We are already seeing this after the energy crisis in 2021 and now with what is happening in Iran: the number of people who want to be independent and have energy in their own hands, the prosumers, is growing and will continue to grow because customers and consumers are moving faster than institutions. This is another lesson we have not yet learned. If we get bogged down in very complex and very local regulation, in national interest-centric views on energy, we will miss this opportunity to have a robust, welfare-oriented Europe”, Menegazzo said at a conference, according to Agerpres.
In his opinion, the private and public sectors should sit at the same table, co-creating the policies of the future, because Romania has lost money and opportunities due to the lack of this collaboration.
„Now is the time - and this is perhaps the biggest problem we have in Romania - for the public and private sectors to get together to design, to co-create. And I really hope that this difficult period, this uncertain period in which we are living, gives us the impetus to take this step forward, because I believe that the lack of collaboration at the same table for co-creation, not just consultation, between the private and public sectors has been the missing point in Romania over the last 15-20 years. We have lost opportunities, we have lost money. Romania could have been richer, more secure and less vulnerable to populist, nationalist sentiments that are not anchored in European values” transmitted Alessio Menegazzo.