Neighbourhood-East

The Eastern Partnership is an initiative to help Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine increase economic, political, and cultural links with the EU. It includes interconnectivity (energy and transport), energy efficiency, environment and climate change in two out of five thematic cluster priorities. The new Economic and Investment plan for the Eastern Partnership will mobilise a total of €2.3 billion from the EU budget in grants, blending and guarantees, to support the post-pandemic recovery and to sustainably transform the economies of the Eastern partners.

The objective of cooperation in the energy field is to support partner countries on their way towards a low-carbon economy and to increase economic and political resilience by increasing security of energy supply. The work is guided by a set of post-2020 Eastern Partnership priorities and is carried out in the multi-sectoral Eastern Partnership panel on energy, environment and climate change, as well as in specific networking groups on renewable energy, renewable gases and regulatory issues.

Eastern Partnership meetings

Meetings have been organised in the framework of the Eastern Partnership since 2010. The reports, minutes, presentations and meeting agendas are available on the Eastern partnership dedicated webpage (CIRCA BC).

On 24 November 2016 the EU and Ukraine signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic energy partnership with the objective to achieve a full integration of the EU and Ukraine energy markets.

Increasing energy security

Following the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, the electricity grids of Ukraine (and Moldova) were successfully synchronised with the Continental European Synchronous Area on 16 March 2022 under emergency mode. This historic milestone for the EU-Ukraine relationship enabled the export of electricity from the EU to Ukraine and Moldova and helped Ukraine to keep its electricity system stable under the current extremely difficult circumstances. Full integration into the EU electricity market will also be enabled once the required technical and regulatory steps are completed.

With the support of the Commission, the Energy Community has established the Ukraine Energy Support Fund which raised €629 million, as of September 2024, and became the main global channel for financial support to Ukraine’s energy sector. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism, managed by DG ECHO, is the EU’s main instrument for in-kind support to Ukraine, including in the energy sector.

Russia's military aggression against Ukraine compromises the safe operation of critical energy infrastructure, as well as the safety of nuclear installations devoted to peaceful purposes. The Commission is actively working on ensuring that Ukraine can maintain stable electricity and gas supply despite the war, including ensuring the reverse flows of gas to the country and the delivery of energy supplies (fuels and equipment) that are most urgently needed. 

On the Commission’s EU Solidarity with Ukraine website there is detailed information (also available in Ukrainian and Russian) about the EU’s political, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and the sanctions against Russia and those complicit in its aggression on Ukraine. In June 2024, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, Commission President von der Leyen announced €1.4 billion in new guarantee and grant agreements to support Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction, as part of the Ukraine Facility's Investment Framework. Support to the energy sector, including the repair and development of critical energy infrastructure, is among the key areas supported by these agreements. 

Following the College of Commissioners visit to Kyiv on 2 February 2023, the Commission launched the project ’Ray of hope’ to allocate donated solar PV panels in key public buildings in Ukraine, providing self-generated electricity to essential services like education and health. This initiative is part of a wider effort undertaken by the EU to ensure off-grid solutions aimed at increasing the country’s energy resilience through decentralised energy generation. The project shows European solidarity in action and showcases how investment in clean tech manufacturing can make Europe more energy secure and independent.

Energy Reforms in Ukraine

In the past years, the EU and Ukraine have intensified their cooperation in the energy field in order to advance the reform of Ukraine's energy sector and its gradual decarbonisation with reference to the 5 pillars of the EU's energy union. As a member of the Energy Community, Ukraine is undertaking important market reforms despite the ongoing war. These reforms would allow the country to join the EU’s single energy market and facilitate its path to accession into the EU. To help advance this process, a high-level working group on energy market integration was set up in 2021.

In February 2023 the EU and Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding on renewable gases. Biomethane, hydrogen and renewable energy constitute an opportunity for Ukraine to develop new revenue streams to support its resistance against Russia and advance on its energy transition. In June 2024 Ukraine also adopted its National Energy and Climate Plan which will serve as a blueprint for its green reconstruction as part of a climate-neutral Europe.

Transit of gas

Ukraine remains a transit country for EU energy imports from Russia. The current gas transit contract foresees that natural gas flows will continue until the end of 2024, in line with EU plans to gradually phase out energy dependence from Russia after the start of the military aggression against Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Moldova has achieved remarkable progress in diversifying and securing energy suppliers thanks to political willingness for reform. While still dependent on fossil fuel and electricity imports, structural reforms helped reduce the historical dependence on a single source of gas and electricity. With the EU’s support, Moldova no longer consumes any Russian gas since December 2022. In 2023, it took decisive steps to align with the EU's Third Energy Package to comply with unbundling requirements in electricity and gas transmission systems.

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine and Moldova’s electricity grids were synchronised with the Continental European Grid in March 2022. The EU continues to work actively to ensure that Moldova can maintain stable electricity and gas supplies to help speed up its energy independence. Moldova is also part of the EU Energy Platform, which aims to coordinate measures to secure energy supplies at affordable prices.

High-Level Dialogue on Energy

In October 2021, as an imminent response to the energy crisis, increased energy security and a better functioning energy market were identified as key cooperation priorities at the first meeting of the EU- Moldova High-Level Dialogue on Energy. Since then, the High-Level Dialogues have offered an effective platform for continued EU-Moldovan cooperation on priority energy issues. The 5^th dialogue took place on 1-2 February 2024 in Chisinau. As a basis for further cooperation, a Joint Moldova-Energy Community and Commission Roadmap was endorsed, outlining the next steps and a timeline of further reforms covering the gas and electricity market and to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy capacity.

Financial support

In the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December 2021, the EU made available €60 million budget support programme following the adoption of a National Energy Crisis Action Plan. Through the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, the EU also provided €15 million grant to support those most affected by the crisis and help the Moldovan government’s capacity in energy reform.

In the context of the second energy dialogue, a loan project worth €300 million to be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will allow Moldova to purchase gas for emergency purposes and storage ahead of next winter. In December 2022, the EU reiterated its support to Moldova and its energy sector at the third EU-Moldova High-Level Energy Dialogue, referring to the €250 million announced by President von der Leyen in her visit to Chisinau in November 2022 to help Moldova cope with the energy crisis, as well as to the Energy Vulnerability Fund and the pledges announced by the EU countries as part of the Moldova support platform and the ‘Energy Community Rescue Scheme’. The support and cooperation aiming to facilitate Moldova’s integration with the EU’s energy market were reinforced on 23 May 2023 at the fourth EU-Moldova High-Level Energy Dialogue.

The energy efficiency project in the Republic of Moldova is another example of the EU contributions to the region. The project is implemented under the umbrella of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership and contributes an important deliverable for the Eastern Partnership Summit.

Georgia is already aligned with the EU’s directives on energy labelling and the energy performance of buildings and is in the final stages of alignment with the Renewable Energy Directive.

The first EU-Georgia High-Level energy dialogue on 16 November 2023 focused on Georgia’s ongoing alignment with EU energy legislation, the development of energy infrastructure and connectivity, and the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Strengthening the existing cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan significantly contributes to the diversification of the EU's energy supply in line with the REPowerEU plan.

On 18 July 2022, the EU and Azerbaijan signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership in the field of energy that allows for enhanced cooperation on their energy partnership. The new MoU supports doubling the capacity of the Southern Gas Corridor up to at least 20 billion cubic metres annually as of 2027. Building on the stability and predictability of gas supplies provided via the Southern Gas Corridor, the expansion of the project will continue ensuring attractive and stable conditions for natural gas supplies to the EU, reflecting the long-term nature of the energy partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan.

The EU and Azerbaijan also intend to accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy generation and transmission capacity,and recognise that the collective responsibility is to make the natural gas supply chain as efficient, environment and climate-friendly as possible, including via the minimisation of methane emissions.

The second phase of the regional EU4Energy programme aims to foster the low carbon and clean energy transition in the 6 Eastern partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The implementing partners are:

• the Council of European Energy Regulators
• the International Energy Agency
• the Energy Community secretariat

• EU solidarity with Ukraine
• EU-Ukraine relations (European External Action Service)
• Coal regions in the Western Balkans and Ukraine 
• EaP Summit 2021
• EU4Energy programme
• Eastern Partnership (European External Action Service)
• Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership