The Treaty establishing Energy Community was signed in October 2005 in Athens, Greece. It entered into force on 1 July 2006. The mission of Energy Community is to extend the EU internal energy market to Southeast Europe and beyond on basis of binding legal framework. In this way the Energy Community provides a stable investment environment based on the rule of law and it connects Contracting Parties with the European Union. Through its activities the Energy Community contributes to security of supply in wider Europe.
The Parties to the Treaty are the European Union, on one hand, and the Contracting Parties on the other, namely, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. Moldova became a full-fledged member on 1 May 2010 and Ukraine officially joined the Energy Community on 1 February 2011.
A strong institutional framework is comprised out Ministerial Council, Permanent High Level Group, Regulatory Board, four Fora and a Secretariat.
Energy Efficiency Task Force
According to the Article 35 of the Treaty, the Energy Community may adopt measures to encourage energy efficiency. In December 2007 the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community adopted the decision to establish a Task Force that would deal with energy efficiency issues.
In December 2007, the Ministerial Council entrusted the Task Force with term of office to prepare an operational plan for energy efficiency issues in Contracting Parties of the Energy Community. The work of the Task Force is determined by the term of office it receives from the Ministerial Council. Also, the duration of its term of office is predetermined. The Energy Community Energy Efficiency Task Force became operational in January 2008 for the initial term of office of one and a half years. In June 2009 the Ministerial Council extended the term of office of Task Force for the period of July 2009 – December 2010. From January 2011, the Energy Efficiency Task Force is operating within third term of office for the time period January 2011 – December 2011.
Obligations in the Field of Energy Efficiency
Binding transposition of the legal framework of the Energy Community related to the field of energy efficiency is a far-reaching and complex process. On the basis of three decisions by the Ministerial Council adopted in December 2009, September 2010 and October 2011, the following energy efficiency directives became obligatory for Contracting Parties:
- Directive 2006/32/EC on energy end-use efficiency and energy services
- Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings;
- Directive 2010/30/EU on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products, and a set of implementing directives.
You can find more information on Energy Community and Energy Efficiency Task Force on the official web page www.energy-community.org.