 Geographically, Ireland may be towards the edge of Europe, but in other ways, I'm impressed by how close Ireland is to the heart of Europe. And indeed, energy in today's inter-connector is a bridge for energy, but it's more. It's a symbol as well, and we will continue our work. We will develop a North Sea Wing, integrating UK and Central Europe, for to get a real functioning internal market at the end of the day for electricity, for gas, for to realize all our energy goals, take competition, take solidarity when needed, take security of supply, or take to use renewables coming from best locations. In Ireland, you understand the importance of the European approach, the drawbacks of national limits and the benefits of peaceful cooperation and tolerance. These are important lessons which we must not forget. This is how Europe has created peace and prosperity for 60 years and must continue to do so in the future. Yet I know that these are hard times for your country, and that prosperity seems like a pipe dream when unemployment reaches such highs, when public finances are under such enormous pressure, and when the population must endure the consequences of the implementation of a rigorous economic adjustment program. I want to express my admiration at the resolve shown by Ireland facing up to these difficulties and challenges. You can count on the Commission's support to exit the crisis as quickly as possible, and on its commitment to make sure that the mechanisms are put in place to ensure that such crises are no longer possible in our European future. It is very difficult work because we must balance on the one hand the need for much more rigorous and refined cooperation, and you oversight in areas that go to the heart of national policies, and on the other the need for democratic legitimacy and respect for national prerogatives, for example in determining fiscal policies. Another concern is how to ensure that the European economy is fit for the period after the crisis. Our main issue is how to get back to a competitive position in a global world. Let me say that I am concerned not only about the state of our public finances, but about the future of Europe's economic competitiveness as a whole. And as Commissioner responsible for energy, I am convinced that our future competitiveness will in large part be determined by whether we correctly apply current European energy policy and intelligently define its future. Indeed, global challenges for energy markets are growing, the combined pressures of climate change, dwindling fossil fuel production, global demand growth, and changing geopolitics are taking their toll. I believe that the only way to deal with these global challenges is through a more Europeanized energy policy. Since taking office, I have made this my guiding principle, how to Europeanize energy policy. Our European energy strategy for 2020, the so-called 2020 agenda, is a starting point for Europe's current energy policy. This gives all European member states shared targets on lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the use of renewables, and using energy more efficiently. In this context, I commend Ireland on its steps to realize these ambitious targets. In 10 years, your renewable production has more than tripled. I foresee that Ireland could be an exporter of renewable electricity, but we need interconnections. In energy efficiency, Ireland is one of the most innovative member states. Our determination to deliver over 20 percent energy efficiency commitment is good news for Ireland's people, and good news for the EU. The new European Energy Efficiency Directive will make this task easier. Ireland is also taking advantages of other opportunities Europe offers to increase energy sustainability and security. The Covenant of Mayors, for example, involves local communities in European initiatives for sustainable energy. In Ireland, five regions have already joined, including Dublin, benefiting more than one and a quarter million people. Through its EU structural funds grants, Ireland has invested in its energy future and continues to do so. But 2020 is a short time away in energy terms, for investments when the time was yesterday. Europe needs to agree a strategic view for the following decades, now. Based on the Commission's Energy World Map 2050, we are starting to develop a new framework for 2030 and beyond. While we do not know exactly which route we will follow, the Energy World Map makes clear that our decarbonisation objectives are desirable, feasible and affordable. I am grateful to Ireland for their support to our work on the roadmap and their constructive role in ongoing discussions. Looking forward, we need to keep up the momentum for energy transformation in a way that allows us to reach these objectives and remain competitive. We need to convince financiers that this is a secure investment. We need more investments in the energy sector. And we need to stick together as a European Union. In that way, energy transformation will be easier and cheaper, both for industry and for consumers. Ladies and gentlemen, one important tool along the way is the internal European energy market. Completing the European energy market is one of the European Council's top priorities. By 2015, we have to ensure that there is no more any energy island in the EU. And this includes Ireland. An integrated European Union. By then, electricity and gas should flow freely within the EU, and remaining barriers should be taken away. Countries at the end of the supply chain, Ireland included, will be able to trade more freely and on equal terms with other parts of the EU. We have to ensure that Europe's energy market brings benefits to all players with greater efficiencies in production and supplies. Energy markets will help ensure that electricity is produced where it is most economical. Both our gas and electricity systems will become more flexible. Supplies will be more secure and prices more stable. An interconnected electricity and gas market is a foundation stone for realizing our 2020 and 2050 ambitions. In Ireland, we have seen that all those small member states can benefit from market integration and competition. This is a clear lesson from introducing the single electricity market, this Northern Ireland, and the removal of price controls at the retail level. But I will be frank, the internal European energy market is yet not operating in the most efficient and flexible way. If we compare other products or services in our European internal market, take food, take cars, trucks, electro-technical products, chemical products, we have more competition, we have stronger consumers, we have more capacity and quality of transport, and so this is our goal for energy as well. We have made major advance in recent years, but there is still more to be done and we must make sure that member states stick to their commitments on better implementation of current legislation, more investment and on properly targeted government intervention which does not create obstacles to a well-functioning market. Bringing the consumer on board is also essential to make the market work. We need to encourage consumers to be more active in the market. They should be able to take their energy bills into their own hands. They need the technology and possibilities to cut down their energy use and take control of their own energy situation. Support for the energy poor should be in the form of targeted support, not blanket price subsidize. Making the demand side or consumer side more proactive is good for competition, security of supplies and sustainability. This will become of the seams of the communication I am now preparing on the internal energy market. The market must deliver on its promises and deliver to everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, whether it is completion of the internal market or delivering our 2020 targets, we face the challenge of investing in new infrastructure. Our energy systems are at a stage when they need billions of euros of new networks and technologies. My task as European Commission now is to help create the conditions in which the investments will flow into projects which encourage sustainable energy, secure supplies, competitive prices and skilled jobs for Europe's people. In this context, I am honoured to be attending later today the opening of the new Interconnector at Batterstone, built with the help of European funding and a real European project, a project of common European interest. The East-West Interconnector represents a very good example of cross-border integration of energy markets. It establishes the first link between the electricity systems of the Republic of Ireland and mainland Britain. The new Interconnector is a milestone in the continued efforts by Ireland to develop its electricity grid and to respond to changing markets and opportunities. Another example is Ireland's involvement in the North Sea offshore wind grid, another flagship European project. Completing new projects like this is a major challenge for Europe. Large parts of our existing energy systems are reaching the end of their useful life. Europe depends on imports for more and more of its fuel supplies. Suppliers, households and businesses are struggling with rising global energy prices. The question is, can we be sure that markets will deliver the necessary investments in time? I'm not sure we can. At the moment, we do not enough. So to make this happen, the Commission proposes to boost European support several times over. Our new Connecting Europe facility for ICT, transport and energy infrastructure will release unpresented funds into European energy infrastructure projects, some 9.1 billion euros between 2014 and 2020. The same questions arise regarding renewable energy. Renewables are vital to the European energy transformation. President Barroso highlighted the importance of renewable energy in his State of the Union speech just a few days ago in Strasbourg. The Energy World Bank 2050 show that renewable energy will be the core of the EU energy system in the future. Within 20 years, they could represent very high shares of electricity generation. To make this possible, we basically have to start building a new type of electricity grid today. Again, given the fact that our grids are aging and largely need replacing, the timing is perfect. But how fair does the EU, or other public bodies, have to intervene to give renewable energy the boost it needs? Our Commission's recent communication on renewable energy focused on the question of renewable support. How we can make best use of funding. My aim is to reflect on whether we need to revise our approach to renewable support. I want to make sure that our support schemes create a predictable, stable and affordable framework for renewable investments, not a boom-bust mentality. I also want to ensure consistency in support schemes, and how they are managed. Setting no limits on support is unsustainable, but suddenly cutting off support is equally damaging. I am not against government support, but I do not want to see governments interfere in markets unless it is truly necessary. But we need our market-based arrangements that encourage and reward flexibility in both supply and demand. We also need effective price signals for renewables and other fuels. State support, if at all needed, should be well targeted, well designed and well coordinated. I am encouraged by my recent discussions with ministers during our latest informal Council in Cyprus, which showed increasing awareness on this issue. Our European Strategic Energy Technology Plan, that plan, is another building block of our renewable support strategy. New technology projects are bringing the brightest and best of Europe's developers together in solar, offshore wind and biomass, to mention just three. Europe is opening up new possibilities to exploit our best renewable potentials, including in Ireland. The new RTD framework programme could release over 6 billion euros of EU funding for energy technology in the next seven years. With the right commitment from our member states, consumers and the energy industry, I believe that we can start to look forward to a new investment wave leading to a smart European grid. Moreover, investing in energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean technology is exactly the stimulus our economy needs. The key word is smart. We need to build a power grid which can support variable generation and micro generation. This will make it easier for companies and individuals to become electricity producers themselves. It will also encourage more efficiency in energy production and use. As well as our infrastructure programmes, European initiatives on smart cities and smart grids, our stepping stone towards more intelligent networks, more innovative producers and more proactive consumers. The challenges of building such a European network are massive. Incorporating renewable energy, micro generation and new sources of energy and gas supplies is an even greater challenge. For our part, the EU can provide a stable regulatory framework where everyone can contribute and everyone can benefit. Network operators, producers, suppliers, regulators and, importantly, consumers. Ladies and gentlemen, Ireland's role in tackling all these challenges will be brought into a sharp focus in the first half of next year when your country holds the presidency of the Energy Council and of Europe as a whole. Ireland will take the chair at a time of key strategic debates for Europe's future. Discussions on the policy framework for 2030 and new communication on energy technologies adoption of the infrastructure package, conclusions on nuclear safety, which is important to Ireland even though you do not avoid any plans. I very much look forward to working closely with my Irish colleagues and Irish energy industry on all these issues. To conclude, I'd like to repeat my conviction that Europe's energy strategy offers a unique chance to strengthen Europe's economy, improve services to our customers and bring online the investments we need to make our energy systems fit for the 21st century. Energy policy is one of the foundations of the European approach. From the European coal and steel community to the Lisbon Treaty, 60 years. Energy has powered the European project. Today, European energy policy brings Europe's nations together to tackle some of the major challenges of our time. And in the future, with a wide framework and commitment, it can help make Europe stronger, more secure and more prosperous. Thank you all for listening.