Opening the roundtable, the Chairperson of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy, Dr Aleksandra Tomic said that the purpose of the gathering is to gain insight into the existing situation in Serbia as regards energy efficiency and identify further steps in the sphere so as to improve the citizens’ quality of living.
The President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, Sonja Licht stressed that economic development and the development of democracy are becoming more and more connected with the sustainable use of energy and energy efficiency. Sonja Licht commended the activities the National Assembly and its MPs have undertaken in the field, emphasising the importance of role they play in it.
Assistant Minister of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection Dejan Trifunovic spoke of the legislation in the Ministry’s purview, while the Head of the Energy Efficiency and Construction Products Department of the Ministry of Construction and Urbanism, Jasminka Pavlovic, discussed the legislation in this Ministry’s purview.
Valentina Djureta of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence presented the conclusions and results of the second international conference titled “Energy. Development. Democracy. Successful approaches for a new energy future in South-East Europe”, while project “Energy Efficiency in the Construction Sector” implemented by the Ministry of Construction and Urbanism and the German Academy for International Cooperation was presented by project coordinator Tanja Nikolic.
The roundtable was attended by MPs, ministry representatives, representatives of civil society and international organisations who, in the course of the discussion, emphasised the importance of raising awareness among the citizens and economic subjects on the importance of energy efficiency. The participants also discussed the implementation of the existing laws and the need to pass new legislation to regulate the sphere of energy efficiency.