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  • Wednesday 22^nd June 2011
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WELCOME REMARKS

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the LPG industry to Bucharest for the 2011 AEGPL Congress. It is a particular honour for me as this is the first Congress to take place since taking over as President of AEGPL.

This AEGPL Congress is also special this year as it is breaking into new territory – it is the first time that the event has been held in south-eastern Europe. As the EU has now expanded to 27 Member States, and will doubtless increase even more in the near future, it is only fitting that the industry’s keynote event takes place in this part of the continent. Romania and other countries in the region offer enormous opportunities for the LPG industry, and I would especially like to welcome delegates from non-EU countries who are perhaps attending the AEGPL Congress for the first time. I believe that there has never been a better opportunity for networking and exchanging experiences with colleagues from all across Europe and beyond.

The theme chosen for this year’s Congress is “LPG: Energy for the European Village”. This theme refers to two distinct ideas. Firstly, as the EU and, in fact, non-EU countries, continue to integrate both economically and politically, we see more convergence of standards, and more closeness across the continent than ever before. The effect of the single market in Europe is continuing to widen and deepen, and although different countries of course retain their individual identities, there has never been more that we can learn from one another.

Secondly, 2011 sees the launch of AEGPL’s latest Roadmap. This new Roadmap is titled “Beyond the Grid” and covers applications of LPG in domestic or “off-mains” environments – often in many of Europe’s thousands of villages. I strongly believe that this third Roadmap can help to shape the European LPG industry by not only giving a stronger identity to our sector and our product but also detailing the precise advantages that Europe will gain if LPG is used to its full potential. After the success of the Autogas Roadmap launched in 2008, which has been used extensively by AEGPL members across the continent and has also been reflected in European transport strategy, I hope that the Beyond the Grid Roadmap can have a similar effect for domestic LPG.

I believe that this year’s event will be an enormous success and will see participants from more countries than ever before. On behalf of AEGPL, I welcome you all to the 2011 AEGPL Congress and look forward to seeing you in Bucharest in June!

Joël Pedessac
President of the European LPG Association