Brussels, 09/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and the ministers and representatives of the nine member states of Central and South-Eastern Europe agreed in Sofia on Monday 9 February to put in place and implement a roadmap for the construction of priority infrastructure and the development of missing infrastructure in the region in order to secure its gas supplies. The ultimate objective is for each of these nine countries to have access to at least three different sources of gas supply.
The Central East South Europe Gas Connectivity (CESEC) high-level group, which is jointly chaired by Energy Union Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and his colleague at Energy and Climate Miguel Arias Canete, agreed to meet at the start of summer to take stock of progress made at expert level and to prepare an action plan. The group brings together Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
On Monday, the group adopted the terms of reference which define the specific scope of its activities and its governance structure. Debate covered both domestic and external aspects of the supply situation in the region, with particular focus on interconnections and the best use of existing infrastructure. Expert-level analyses will be carried on in sub-groups looking at specific infrastructure corridors with the aim of identifying missing links and other barriers to effective market integration in the region.
Neighbouring countries will also be involved to ensure a regional approach that goes beyond the borders of the EU. Furthermore, to provide the basis for “a solid assessment”, the CESEC will take input from national energy regulatory authorities, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSO-G), the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), the Secretariat of the Energy Community, project promoters (TSO or non-TSO) and international financial institutions.
It was a ministerial-level decision that established the CESEC in mid-December, in the wake of the cancellation by Russia of the South Stream gas pipeline project. The aim of CESEC is to prepare an action plan to improve cooperation, integrate the gas markets and develop interconnections and infrastructure in Central and South-Eastern Europe (LNG terminals, connections to the Southern Gas Corridor, development of offshore reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and in the Black Sea), particularly between Bulgaria and its neighbours, and north to south. It also seeks to examine how to mobilise EU funding (the investment package, the Connecting Europe Facility, infrastructure projects of common interest and future strategic projects of the energy union). (Emmanuel Hagry)