ANKARA

Turkey and the European Union have agreed to intensify their relations in the field of energy, announcing a number of areas to begin with where the two parties have common interests.

Turkish Minister for EU Affairs & Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Turkish Energy & Natural Resources Taner Yildiz, EU Commissioner for Enlargement & Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule and EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger held Thursday a quadripartite meeting titled "Turkey-EU Positive Agenda: Enhanced Energy Cooperation between EU and Turkey" in Stuttgart, Germany.
Releasing a joint statement after the gathering, the parties described Turkey and the union as important energy partners sharing common strategic challenges and objectives.
Reaffirming their will to deepen energy cooperation, the officials said they had agreed to focus efforts on five topics of mutual interest initially.
Such areas were listed as long term perspectives on energy scenarios and energy mix; market integration and development of infrastructures of common interest (gas, electricity, oil); global and regional energy cooperation; promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean energy technologies; as well as nuclear safety and radiation protection.
"The ministers and Commissioners agreed to establish a steering group to coordinate the joint work of teams of experts and to report regularly to the ministers and Commissioners. They also decided on some specific activities which should start immediately, focusing on gas, electricity, energy efficiency, renewable energy and nuclear energy," the joint statement said.
"This cooperation will contribute to a positive agenda for EU-Turkey relations in general, and it will facilitate the eventual integration of EU and Turkey energy markets. Such integration will not only increase security of energy supply in Europe and Turkey, it will also create important business opportunities," the statement added.