Secretariat

Guardian of the Energy Community Treaty

The Secretariat is charged with reviewing the implementation by the Parties of their obligations under the Energy Community Treaty. Every year, the Secretariat submits an annual  Implementation Report to the Ministerial Council, which outlines the progress achieved by the Parties in implementing the acquis communautaire. The Secretariat also reviews compliance of draft legal acts prior to their adoption and conducts country missions to advise on the correct implementation of the acquis upon a Party’s request.

The Third Energy Package gave the Secretariat new tasks. The Secretariat is to issue an opinion on the national regulatory authority’s certification of a transmission system operator’s compliance with the unbundling provisions under the Third Energy Package. The national regulatory authority is to adopt the final certification decision taking the utmost account of the Secretariat’s opinion. Prior to issuing its opinion, the Secretariat is to consult the Energy Community Regulatory Board. Moreover, the Secretariat is also responsible for verifying that the criteria for a new infrastructure project to be exempted from third party access as defined by the Third Energy Package are met. In its opinion, the Secretariat may ask the national regulatory authority to amend or withdraw its exemption decision.

Under the dispute settlement mechanism, the Secretariat, upon a complaint or on its own motion, may initiate a case of non-compliance by a Party with Energy Community law. Under such circumstances, the Secretariat issues an Opening Letter to be followed, as the case may be, by a Reasoned Opinion and Reasoned Request to the Ministerial Council.

Provider of technical assistance

When deemed necessary, the Secretariat provides technical assistance to the Contracting Parties financed from the Energy Community budget. Recently, the Secretariat provided such technical assistance for the preparation of legislation on emergency oil stocks, sustainability criteria for biofuels in the transport sector and improvement of completeness and quality of energy statistics necessary to comply with the Energy Community acquis.

Due to its specialized expertise, the Secretariat may manage technical assistance financed by EU or national grants. Under an EU grant contract, the Secretariat was put in charge of technical assistance to Western Balkan 6 Contracting Parties for supporting the creation of a regional electricity market. The project “Technical Assistance to Connectivity in the Western Balkans - Component 2: Regional Energy Market” is aimed at removing the existing legislative and regulatory barriers and enhancing the institutional structures necessary for the functioning of the market in line with the Energy Community Treaty.

The Secretariat also signed a grant contract with the European Commission for providing technical assistance to Eastern Partnership countries in the framework of the EU4Energy Programme (Phase I 2016-2020, Phase II 2021-2026). The presently ongoing Phase II covers three countries, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, and focuses on improvement of energy legislative and regulatory frameworks; implementation of policy recommendations and investment promotion for key energy infrastructure strategic projects.

Obligation to report

Article 67 of the Treaty tasks the Secretariat to “review the proper implementation by the Parties of their obligations under this Treaty, and submit yearly progress reports to the Ministerial Council”. The Secretariat fulfills its reporting obligation in the form of the annual Implementation Report. The report covers all areas of work, highlights key policy developments and gives details on the open non-compliance cases. The Annual Report on the activities of the Energy Community is an integral part of the report. 

In addition to the Treaty, the acquis in force together with the amending Ministerial Council decisions give rise to a series of reporting obligations.  There are more than 50 Articles tasking the Secretariat to monitor and report. In most of the cases, the Secretariat is to report about the Contracting Parties’ progress in implementing the acquis in question. As a result, the majority of the Secretariat’s reporting obligations are covered by its Annual Implementation Report.

The deepening and greening of the acquis in recent years have multiplied the Secretariat’s obligations. The deepening began with the adoption of the Third Energy Package and continues today with the integration of the diverse electricity and gas network codes. In addition, the Energy Community’s commitments in the area of climate together with the newly adopted Energy Efficiency Directive have increased the Secretariat’s reporting tasks.

With the new network codes, the Secretariat and ECRB are also to monitor the regulators’ procedure of granting a derogation. Issued on specific circumstances with a limited duration, a derogation relieves the applicant from its obligation to comply with a technical standard or code.

Together with the European Commission, the Secretariat is to evaluate the Contracting Parties’ annual reports and the National Energy Efficiency Action Plans. If needed, the Secretariat is not only to assess, but also to propose further measures to limit energy consumption. During the drafting process, the Secretariat is to give recommendations on the Contracting Parties’ national climate plans. Starting 2022, the Secretariat has the task to draft Biennial Progress Report on the implementation of national climate plans (NECP).

Secretariat's publications page displays the different type of reports, papers and reviews published so far.  

Environmental responsibility

The Energy Community Secretariat is committed to do its utmost to support the Contracting Parties in the transition of their energy sectors to a sustainable path, in line with numerous environmental and climate acts as adopted by the Ministerial Council. At the same time, the Secretariat’s supporting role does not come without an environmental impact, including a substantial carbon footprint. For instance,

• In 2019, the Secretariat organized 98 official meetings, which were attended by approximately 2.700 participants.
• The participation at the Secretariat events, together with the staff's travelling, amounted to roughly 3.6 million flight kilometers in 2019.

These considerations resulted in a decision to engage in introducing the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) at the Secretariat. The EMAS Regulation, which is the EU’s flagship measure in environmental management, requires organizations to assess, manage and continuously improve their environmental performance.

The Secretariat completed the EMAS certification in September 2021.