Brussels, 02/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the treaty instituting the Energy Community, in Vienna on 27 August, the European Commissioner in charge of the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, stressed the “pivotal role” of the Energy Community not only in the internal dimension but also in the external dimension of the Energy Union, a project which is extremely important to the Juncker Commission.
“From the regional pre-accession tool, the Energy Community has developed into an eminent instrument for our joint security of supply, for our debates on how to cooperate better, how to converge legal and also infrastructural systems. It helped us to promote safe, secure and predictable production and transportation of energy in the closest EU neighbourhood”, he said.
The Energy Community, which was created in late 2015, aims to set in place an integrated energy market between the EU and the countries of south-eastern Europe (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo) and Eastern Europe (Moldova and Ukraine). Norway and Turkey still have observer status. The treaty instituting the Energy Community lays down an energy cooperation framework between these countries on the basis of the community acquis on energy and principles of the single market for energy; it aims to harmonise the functioning and development of the energy market in order to improve the security of supply for the countries in question.
In his speech in Vienna, Sefcovic said that the Commission was proposing to increase the Energy Community budget by 30% for the year 2016-2017.
For his part, the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Energy Community, called for “closer collaboration” at “pan- European” level, in order to face the triple challenge of the volatility of the market of resources, climate change and political instability. “The Energy Union must comprise member states and Contracting Parties alike, and go even beyond the current borders of the Energy Community”, Rama said.
Vital role of infrastructure projects of common interest. The Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, focused on the implementation of the Projects of Energy Community Interest (PECI) and on the need for adequate support. A list of 35 PECIs was adopted at the 11th ministerial meeting of the Energy Community, in October 2013.
The Western Balkans Summit, which was also held in Vienna on 27 August, approved four PECIs for inclusion in the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2015. The summit also approved the list of priority legal and regulatory measures to implement the acquis for energy and calls upon the secretariat of the Energy Community to steer the development of the regional energy market by helping to implement these measures. The secretary will report back on the progress made at the next Western Balkans Summit, to be held in France in 2016. (Emmanuel Hagry)