Energy: the road to the 2026 Energy Festival begins in Brussels

BRUSSELS – It is in Brussels that the journey towards the 14th edition of the Energy Festival started. The Festival, scheduled to take place in Lecce from 28 to 30 May 2026, was officially launched at the European Parliament with the first stop of the Road to the Energy Festival, opening a series of events that will also visit Rome and Milan in the coming months.

At the heart of the discussion was an issue that resonates through the entire European debate: the relationship between energy and freedom. Not only in terms of security of supply, but also as a structural condition for economic development, social cohesion, and the European Union’s ability to withstand an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment. A theme addressed at the very core of the EU institutions, where policies are shaped with direct effects on territories and national economies.

The meeting focused on several of the key challenges currently facing Europe, including the strengthening of shared infrastructure and European interconnections, the reduction of external dependencies, the protection of strategic industrial supply chains, and the need to limit volatility and shocks in energy markets. While these challenges are discussed on a European scale, the consequences are felt immediately in the economic and social life of individual Member States. The goal is to ensure reliable and sustainable conditions for citizens and businesses alike.

This was underlined by Raffaele Fitto, Vice-President of the European Commission, who opened the event via live stream: “In recent weeks, the Commission has been working to make our choices on energy, competitiveness and cohesion more coherent and operational […] We are directing European policies and resources towards investments that strengthen networks, infrastructure and the security of energy systems, while reducing territorial disparities and increasing the Union’s resilience.” Fitto also recalled that, in the mid-term review of cohesion policy, energy has been included among the new strategic priorities, enabling Member States and regions to allocate resources to projects capable of reducing energy dependence and supporting families and businesses.

From a political perspective, the debate highlighted how energy has become a central lever of European competitiveness. “The link between energy and freedom is now one of the key political challenges for Europe: it concerns security, internal cohesion, and the Union’s ability to remain competitive in an unstable global context. As the European Parliament, and in particular within the ITRE Committee, we are working to strengthen a more integrated, resilient energy market that is less exposed to external dependencies,” said Giorgio Gori Member of the European Parliament, and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee. For Gori, moments of discussion such as yesterday’s meeting in Brussels are essential to keeping strategic vision, industrial choices and the public interest aligned.

Alongside Vice-President Fitto and MEP Gori, the roundtable included representatives from Eni, Enel, Sogin, Acea, Inwit, Federbeton and Confindustria, as well as MEP Nicola Procaccini, Co-Chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group; MEPs Raffaele Topo, Pierfrancesco Maran, Marco Squarta, Francesco Ventola and Dario Tamburrano; Chiara Trovati (DG ENER, European Commission); Marica Cicconi (Environment and Climate Coordinator at Italy’s Permanent Representation to the EU); Adriana Poli Bortone (Mayor of Lecce); Chicco Testa (President of the Festival’s Honorary and Scientific Committees); and Giampiero Zurlo (Chairman and CEO of UTOPIA, partner of the Festival).

Summing up the overall purpose of the initiative, Alessandro Beulcke, President of the Festival, stated: “The Festival is the leading public outreach event on energy issues, conceived as a space for serious and informed public debate, where institutions, businesses, the research community and civil society can discuss, with expertise and without simplifications, the choices that shape the energy future of Italy, Europe and the world.”

The path launched in Brussels will continue with upcoming stops in Rome and Milan, further strengthening the Festival’s role as a platform for dialogue between the European level and local realities. A journey that confirms how major energy decisions find their most tangible meaning only in the way they affect communities, businesses and citizens alike.