What happens behind the scenes of the EU Parliament? One of the leading figures in European politics, Claude Turmes, the Minister for Energy and Minister for Spatial Planning in Luxembourg, joins Michael Liebreich for episode 21. As a member of the European Green Party and a former Member of the European Parliament for 19 years, Claude has extensive experience representing the parliament in international climate change conferences. Bio/Introduction Claude Turmes has been the rapporteur of a large number of European directives, in particular on renewable energies, energy efficiency, the electricity market and climate plans, as well as on the European lobby register. He was the rapporteur on the EU Renewable Energy Directive 2009/28. From 2004 to 2018, he was the chairman of EUFORES (European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources), the Inter-parliamentary association for the promotion of renewable energies in Europe. Moreover, He represented the Parliament at the 2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań and the 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech. Prior to his election to the European Parliament, Claude Turmes was an activist and, later, he volunteered to lead various environmental associations. He has been active at both the European (Friends of the Earth Europe, the European Environmental Bureau) and national level. He was a member of the Committee and Vice-President in charge of energy/climate and European affairs and Europe of the Mouvement Écologique Luxembourg from the late 1980’s to 1999. Claude Turmes was also a teacher from 1983 to 1999 in various secondary schools in Luxembourg. Claude Turmes, after completing his secondary education, he graduated in physical and sport education from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in 1983. Parallelly to his job, Claude Turmes studied environmental technologies at the Luxembourgish University Foundation in Arlon and finished his studies without the final thesis. Claude Turmes also attended numerous continuing education training in yoga.
Further reading:
Official Bio
https://gouvernement.lu/dam-assets/documents/ministres/cv/2019/en/Turmes-EN-Oct2019.pdf
Energy Transformation - An Opportunity for Europe (Claude Turme’s book)
European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources
The EU’s state aid regime is upside down (May 2020)
Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (25 October 2012)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012L0027
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (23 April 2009)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32009L0028
"LUXEMBOURG IN TRANSITION": TOWARDS ZERO CARBON BY 2050? https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/luxembourg-transition-towards-zero-carbon-2050/212145