A quarter of all CO2 emissions in the world comes from the transport sector, which consumes half of the global oil consumption. Therefore, the ministers welcome Nordic co-operation in a development drive for energy efficiency and renewable and alternative energy for transportation.

"By evolving society towards an 'Eco-efficient Economy' we will show that sustainable industrial policy through green growth is the Nordic answer to increasing competitiveness, while managing the current challenges in climate and energy. We must all continue to work towards a sustainable transport system", the ministers stressed.

This should be considered in light of the important climate summit in Copenhagen in December, where the world's nations will try to agree on a new global climate agreement. Denmark will host the climate summit, and, at the same time, Sweden holds the Presidency of the EU and thus leads the case for the union.

The ministers followed up on their action plan for a borderless electricity market that they had agreed upon at last year's meeting. The ministers reinforced their support for a joint end-user market and decided on further steps to achieve this. The energy ministers will submit a detailed roadmap for the necessary steps to be taken before their next meeting.

The ministers' decision on the further development of the electricity market may be seen in the attachment to this press release (see statement below)
The ministerial meeting took place on 27 October in Stockholm. Iceland holds the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2009.

Statement from the meeting of the Nordic Ministers for Trade, Energy and Regional Policies (MR-NER), Stockholm, October 27, 2009

The trend towards a borderless electricity market continues.

For an overall increase in the drive for the Nordic electricity market, the action plan forms the basis for an effective, borderless and sustainable Nordic electricity market with good competition and efficient trade with the outside world. The action plan was adopted at the meeting of the Nordic council of ministers for energy in Umeå in 2008. The ministers stressed that the different parts of the action plan from Umeå 2008 must be viewed in context, and that all parts are equally important.

Amongst other things, this action plan deals with measures to promote network investments with Nordic synergy, and management of network limitations. The ministers are informed of the system operators' progress in establishing several potential price/bids. An increase in the number of price/bids does not, however, reduce the importance of making these network investments. The ministers are expecting the analysis from the electricity market group of the net investment procedures in the different Nordic countries at the ministerial meeting in Denmark in 2010. They stressed the importance of the fact that the investments that have already been agreed upon between the Nordic system operators must be implemented. The schedule for the remaining investments will be presented at the next ministerial meeting in 2010.

A common Nordic end-user market is the natural extension of the ongoing work on harmonization and strengthening of the Nordic electricity market. NordREG has suggested 2015 as a possible implementation date. The ministers will strengthen their support for a common Nordic end-user market, and, before the next ministerial meeting, will present a detailed implementation plan of the required moves that must be taken to achieve this goal.

The organisational development of the EU places a new focus on Nordic co-operation, and raises questions about how the Nordic network planning will be conducted in the future. The ministers believe that Nordic co-operation should continue with undiminished ambition, and agree that the Nordic system operators should provide updated network plans for the Nordic market on a regular basis.

The focus on renewable energy provides new challenges for the power system. The ministers call for the Nordic system operators to make a plan for how to handle the increased amount of electricity from renewable energy sources which cannot be regulated from an operating system perspective. An account of the work will be required at next year's ministerial meeting.