Minister of State for Climate Change and Energy Pál Kovács represented the Hungarian Ministry of National Development at the plenary session of the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) held on 14-15 May 2012 in Bratislava.

High-ranking government officials, representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, the managers of large power engineering companies, and the delegates of sectoral trade unions and non-government organisations met on the seventh occasion this year. The findings of the stress tests performed in European nuclear power plants and extension of the European nuclear safety regulation were mentioned during the forum. In relation to the European Union's energy plans set out in Roadmap 2050, the parties also discussed issues related to the future of nuclear energy and nuclear transparency.

Slovakian head of government, Robert Fico and Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas pointed out that on both countries considered stress tests closed, welcomed the favourable findings and encouraged the earliest possible implementation of their findings in practice.

The forum participants stressed the need of support from the European Commission to low-carbon technologies. According to the expert opinions referenced by the speakers, unless nuclear power plants are expanded, Europe's carbon emission reduction commitments were unfeasible in energy generation and transport.

ENEF, established at the European Commission's initiative, is a platform of organisations interested in nuclear energy in the Member States of the European Union. The purpose of its operation is the promotion of a regular exchange of ideas between the nations on the current issues, improvement opportunities and developments in the field.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)