Energy Community

The Energy Community Treaty

The Treaty establishing the Energy Community was signed in October 2005 in Athens and entered into force in July 2006. Today, the EU (represented by the European Commission) and 9 other neighbouring countries make up the Energy Community. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have been part of the Energy Community since it was established, with Georgia (2017), Moldova (2010) and Ukraine (2011) joining later. Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were  already part of the Energy Community before joining the EU.

EU countries may obtain ‘participant’ status for Energy Community meetings, allowing them to attend and intervene at meetings, but not to vote. Armenia, Norway and Türkiye have observer status.

By adopting the treaty, Energy Community Contracting Parties made binding commitments to adopt, implement and enforce all current EU rules on energy, environment, competition and renewables. This has been continuously extended to incorporate new directives and regulations covering electricity, gas, oil, infrastructure, renewable energy, energy efficiency, competition and state aid, environment, statistics, climate and cybersecurity.

*In line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence

Organisational structure

The Energy Community Secretariat is responsible for supporting the day-to-day activities, monitoring the implementation of the treaty and preparing all institutional meetings. In addition to the Secretariat, the Energy Community is supported by

• the Ministerial Council
• the Permanent High-Level Group
• the Regulatory Board
• forums, including the Electricity Forum, the Gas Forum and the Oil Forum

Additional forums and working groups have also been created by both the Ministerial Council and the Secretariat.

Objectives

The mission of the Energy Community is to

• establish a stable regulatory and market framework capable of attracting investment in power generation and networks
• create an integrated energy market, allowing for cross-border energy trade and integration with the EU market
• enhance security of energy supply to ensure a stable supply, which is essential for both society and economic development
• improve the environmental situation in relation to energy supply in the region and foster the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency
• develop competition at regional level and exploit economies of scale

Contracting Parties of the Energy Community

In September 2024, the Commission published 9 documents, one per each of the Contracting Parties of the Energy Community. They present key information on the structure of their energy sectors, advances made towards their regional integration, improvements in energy efficiency and decarbonisation.

Energy Community energy fact sheets 

Projects of Energy Community Interest

The adapted Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation sets out the requirements for energy infrastructure projects to qualify as Projects of Energy Community (PECIs) and defines the process for establishing the PECI list every 2 years. A project obtaining the PECI status must meet a series of criteria, notably having to involve at least 2 Energy Community Contracting Parties directly or indirectly or have significant cross-border impact.

The benefits of the PECI status are manyfold. Similar to PCI and PMI status, the status itself is a label of enhanced credibility. Projects benefit from accelerated permitting and are eligible for EU financial support, including under the EU financial programmes listed in the adapted TEN-E Regulation. 

The Energy Community Ministerial Council’s adoption follows the Commission’s proposal to the Ministerial Council on 31 October 2024. The Ministers of the Central and South Eastern European Energy Connectivity (CESEC) High-Level Group agreed on 29 October 2024 to integrating PECI projects into the CESEC Action Plans and noted their eligibility under numerous financial programs – conditional to meeting the respective eligibility criteria under these programs.

Electricity market integration

The Clean Energy for all Europeans Package, including the Electricity Integration Package, and the 2030 energy and climate targets for energy efficiency, renewable energy and greenhouse gases emission reduction were adapted to the institutional framework of the Energy Community Treaty and the specific situation of each country in the Energy Community. It was adopted by the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community in November 2021 and December 2022.

Efforts are ongoing in all the 9 non-EU Energy Community Contracting Parties to transpose and implement the package. 

Security of supply

To improve the Energy Community’s security of energy supply, in 2021 the Ministerial Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 on security of gas supply and Regulation (EU) 2019/941 on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector.

The Security of Supply Coordination Group provides an institutional and procedural framework for coordinating national energy security measures at Energy Community level. It regularly monitors the security of supply of network energy, shares experience on security of supply mechanisms and develops comprehensive risk analysis. 2 sub-groups have been established – 1 for electricity and 1 for gas.

In response to the energy crisis, the EU and the Commission took additional steps to strengthen security of gas supply in the Energy Community.

On 1 October 2022, the Energy Community adopted the Gas Storage Regulation (EU/2022/1032), requiring its non-EU countries to fill up their gas storages to the same levels as in the EU and certify storage operators.

On 31 May 2022, the European Council invited the Western Balkans and the 3 associated Eastern Partners to join the EU Energy Platform. In early 2023, 3 out of 5 non-EU Energy Community Contracting Parties with gas markets had already expressed an interest to participate, in line with Council Regulation 2022/2576.

Decarbonisation in the Energy Community

The Energy Community is also working towards the energy transition, in line with the European Green Deal’s objectives. The decarbonisation roadmap adopted in 2021 provides a comprehensive list of legislative and policy actions for reaching the 2030 targets.

Energy Community Contracting Parties are in the process of adopting and implementing their integrated national energy and climate plans (NECPs) and transposing the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package into their national legislation. 

By August 2024, the final NECPs, taking into consideration the recommendations from the Energy Community Secretariat, were adopted by Ukraine and Georgia. Albania and North Macedonia adopted their NECPs prior to the agreement on 2030 targets and need to update them. The Commission will also gradually introduce new EU Green Deal and REPowerEU rules into the Energy Community in the coming years, which Energy Community Contracting Parties will need to align with.

The next step, outlined in the decarbonisation roadmap is to make progress on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and carbon pricing.

Prior to the roadmap, in 2020, the leaders of the Western Balkans partnership committed to aligning with the EU Climate Law and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This commitment was reiterated in the Declaration on Energy Security and Energy Transition at the Berlin Summit in 2022.

Support to Ukraine

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission and the Energy Community Secretariat have played a key role in providing assistance to Ukraine. 

As a long-term objective, with the support of the EU and the Energy Community, Ukraine pursues a green and sustainable recovery. To this end, Ukraine recently adopted its first NECP. Ukraine’s integration into the EU internal energy market through the transposition and implementation of the Energy Community legislation is a priority and will facilitate its EU accession process.

Documents

• Energy Community fiches (September 2024)