Brussels, 11/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - At a seminar on energy in south-eastern Europe, held in Tirana, Albania on 10 and 11 February by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, said that he was confident that the treaty instituting an energy community between the countries of South East Europe (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey) and the United Nations interim administration mission in Kosovo was close at hand. “Negotiations of the treaty which will set up the Energy Community of South East Europe (ECSEE)”, to cover such issues as the deregulation of energy markets, particularly of gas, “are set to be concluded very soon”, said Mr Piebalgs on Thursday, addressing members of the EBRD high-level seminar. “The preliminary draft treaty may be initialled in March with a view to signature in the summer. The ratification and its entry into force will follow as soon as possible”, he added. Meeting in Athens on 14 December, the ministers and representatives of the 25 Member States of the EU and the countries of South East Europe laid the foundations for the ECSEE and agreed on the main principles to be included in the text of the treaty to institute it. The ECSEE will establish a single regulatory area for energy and monitor the interests of both sides in terms of security of supply.
The ECSEE will offer the countries of South East Europe, which have been dependent on external energy sources since the fall of the USSR, more efficient regional mechanisms and mutual assistance measures. It will also help these countries to fight the problem of energy poverty by guaranteeing their populations energy supply at affordable prices. The implementation of the ECSEE will call for a change to subsidies currently granted to electricity and fuel price systems for assistance to vulnerable groups. This has been possible on the basis of the concept of public service obligations defined in community gas and electricity legislation. The ECSEE treaty, which also aims to boost stability and economic development in South East Europe, will also send out a strong political signal to these countries in favour of reinforce integration and a greater rapprochement with the EU.
From a community point of view, the ECSEE will help to establish energy interconnections between the 25 Member States and the countries of South East Europe, the Middle East and the Caspian area. It will help to put an end to Greece's energy isolation and encourage the diversification of Community sources of supply. The treaty instituting the ECSEE will be a first stage, before its scope is extended to other fields, such as transport and telecommunications infrastructures.
“Transmission and electricity transformation networks are key investment areas”, added Mr Piebalgs in his speech to the EBRD. “The implementation of the treaty in South East Europe, which has long suffered from a lack of energy sources, adequate energy transport infrastructure, interruptions in energy supply, almost no competition and serious environmental problems, will be no mean feat”, said the Commissioner for Energy.