Hungary will join Italian prime minister Romano Prodi’s initiative to set up a joint European electricity services authority, Hungarian Minister of Economics and Transport Janos Koka told MTI on Sunday.
Koka was speaking after millions were left without electricity for half an hour in several European countries in the early hours on Sunday because of a German network failure. Prodi said on Sunday that while European countries are dependent on each other as regards electricity supplies, they are unable to help one another in want of a central European energy authority. Koka said Hungary had raised the issue of a need for a joint network operation and network monitoring system to monitor transmission and capacity levels and reduce the risk of power failures at several EU forums. He added that a one-day conference of EU energy ministers scheduled in Budapest for November 14 will put the matter on its agenda. (Mti-Eco)