The Energy Community, commonly referred to as the Energy Community for South East Europe (ECSEE), is an international organization consisting of the European Union (EU) and a number of non-EU countries. It aims to extend the EU internal energy market to wider Southeast Europe. The members commit to implement relevant EU energy acquis communautaire, to develop an adequate regulatory framework and to liberalize their energy markets in line with the acquis under the founding Treaty.
Aim The Energy Community aims at establishing a Pan-European energy market by extending the energy acquis of the European Union to the territories of Southeast and Eastern Europe. The Energy Community legal framework covers legislation in the fields of energy, environment, and competition of the EU legislation. After entry into force, the treaty acquis has been extended on several occasions. It now also includes legislation in relation to security of supply, energy efficiency, oil, renewable energy, statistics, infrastructure and climate. In line with the update at the EU level, the Energy Community transposes and implements the EU's Third Energy Package since September 2011. The 2021 Ministerial Council adopted five key legislative acts stemming from the EU's Clean energy for all Europeans package. Renewables, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030 will be adopted at the next Ministerial Council in 2022, following the finalization of a study by the European Commission.
Parties, participants and observers
Parties Parties to the Energy Community Treaty are the European Union and nine Contracting Parties (date of ratification):
After having obtained the observer status, Moldova and Ukraine formally expressed their interest in full membership. Mandated by the Ministerial Council, the European Commission had the first round of formal negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine in late 2008. After three negotiation rounds, the technical negotiations were concluded in 2009. The Ministerial Council, however, made the membership conditional on legislative amendments. In concrete terms, it requested both countries to revise their gas laws and to align them with the EU's Gas Directive 2003/55/EC. Whilst Moldova became a full-fledged member as of 1 May 2010, Ukraine officially acceded to the Energy Community on 1 February 2011. Georgia applied for full membership in 2014 and joined the organization as a fully-fledged member on 1 July 2017.
Observers Any other neighbouring third country can obtain an observer status upon approval of a reasoned request by the Ministerial Council. A separate Procedural Act regulates the rights and obligations of the observers to the Treaty. The observers to the treaty are:
Participants Pursuant to the treaty, any EU member state may obtain the status of a participant. In doing so, the EU member state has the right to attend the Ministerial Council, the Permanent High Level Group, the Regulatory Board and the fora and participate in the discussions in these bodies. This privilege is used by 19 EU member states, namely
Following their accession to the European Union, three of the original treaty signatories, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, have matured from a Contracting Party to a Participant.
Institutions The main institutions established by the treaty are:
Ministerial Council Permanent High Level Group Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) Fora Secretariat
Ministerial Council The Ministerial Council is the principal decision-making institution of the Energy Community. It takes the key policy decisions and adopts the Energy Community's rules and procedures. The Ministerial Council is composed of one representative from each Contracting Party, usually the Minister responsible for energy, and of two representatives from the European Union, the European Commissioner for Energy and a high-level representative of the Presidency of the European Union. Following a decision in December 2009, the Ministerial Council meets once a year. Moreover, the Presidency of the council is held in turn by each contracting party for a term of 12 months. For the period of 1 January to 31 December 2021, Serbia holds the presidency in office and chairs the key institutional meetings.
Permanent High Level Group The Permanent High Level Group brings together senior officials from each Contracting Party and two representatives of the European Commission. It ensures the continuity of and follow-up to the political meetings by the ministers and decides, in certain cases, on implementing measures.
Energy Community Regulatory Board The Regulatory Board is composed of high level representatives from the national energy regulatory agencies of the Energy Community Contracting Parties, Observers and Participants. It advises the Energy Community Ministerial Council and Permanent High Level Group (PHLG) on details of statutory, technical and regulatory rules and makes recommendations in the case of cross-border disputes between regulators. The Board can take regulatory measures when empowered by the Energy Community Ministerial Council. The Board is currently chaired by its President (2020–2023), Mr Marko Bislimoski, President of the Energy and Water Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of North Macedonia. The European Union, represented by the European Commission, acts as vice-president and is assisted by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). The Regulatory Board meets in Athens. Its work is supported by the Energy Community Secretariat.
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