The appeal comes in a letter sent by Spain's Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, and Portugal's Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, to their French counterpart, Marc Ferracci, who is responsible for Industry and Energy.

The letter, quoted by Efe, was released by Sara Aagesen's office, according to the agency.

The “unprecedented” blackout that affected the entire Iberian Peninsula on 28 April highlighted the need to strengthen interconnection infrastructure, as well as the importance of cross-border connectivity, “a priority” not only for the three countries concerned, but for the European Union as a whole, the text states.

The energy incident, the letter states, requires action at both the technical and political levels.

Although progress has been made in recent years, the ministers stress that the Iberian Peninsula remains “an energy island” and that interconnection levels remain below the European Union's targets of 10% and 15% for 2020 and 2030, respectively. Currently, these levels stand at 3%.

Sara Aagesen and Maria da Graça Carvalho regret that two of the interconnections between Spain and France – Aragón-Pyrénées Atlantiques and Navarra-Landes – have been excluded from the 2025-2035 French electricity network development plan, despite the EU having considered them to be of general interest.

In the letter, the two leaders recall that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his concern on the matter to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who replied that technical studies are underway, stressing that this is a “sensitive” issue for local communities on both sides of the Pyrenees.

For all these reasons, the leaders urge France to participate in a ministerial meeting to be held this year so that the three countries and the European Commission can define a roadmap with ‘concrete milestones and steps’ to achieve European objectives.