Secretariat's past reports

2022 Report: State of implementation

The reporting year 2022, the most challenging so far in the history of the Energy Community, turned out to be a true turning point for the energy sectors of its Contracting Parties. The organization is adapting to this challenge and will have to adapt further. Granting EU candidacy status to Ukraine and Moldova and clear recommendation by the European Commission to grant this status to Bosnia and Herzegovina brings the Energy Community to the heart of the enlargement process.

As a response to the surge in electricity import prices, other countries prioritized stabilization measures, and are yet to take the decisive steps which will allow them to yield the full benefits of domestic reforms. In Albania, Georgia, Kosovo*, Montenegro and North Macedonia further steps towards the establishment of spot markets in electricity have been made but are yet to materialize. Serbia still needs to liberalize its gas sector whereas North Macedonia made progress in the better usage of its interconnector with Bulgaria. The development in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains stalled. The implementation of environmental law, both in terms of pollution standards and in the quality of permitting procedures remains a concern as reflected in a number of infringement procedures. At the same time, all Contracting Parties progress in the transposition of the Clean Energy Package, in particular the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Directives. Auctions for market-based renewable energy support progressed in Albania as well as North Macedonia.  

2021 Report: State of implementation

As the energy crisis loomed, we have seen in some days the highest electricity prices in Europe recorded on the day-ahead market in Serbia which is not yet coupled. This proved that small isolated markets are more prone to price volatility and that their integration at regional and pan-European level was never more pertinent.

The same goes for the decarbonisation path the Energy Community has been embarking on in the footsteps of the Green Deal. An increasing number of Contracting Parties have formally or implicitly accepted that coal and lignite have no future in their energy mix in the mid-term. The full potential of renewable energy is tapped where a stable legal framework and competitive auctions for market-based support schemes have been implemented. Several Contracting Parties have adopted climate laws while carbon pricing – arguably the most effective instrument in the Green Deal’s regulatory toolbox – has remained a rare exemption. The rather reluctant endorsement of decarbonisation and the alignment of policies and measures with the European Union’s may be choked off by reactions to the energy price surge where governments do not stay the course. For now, domestic lignite and coal-generated power are again in high demand. What matters is that the Contracting Parties do not lose sight of the decarbonization objective in this situation, and follow the transition trail blazed by the European Union.

2020 Report: State of implementation

There are plenty of indications that the Energy Community is not stagnating but actually moving forward on the path of energy transition, and has in some cases passed the point of no return. Without a legal obligation to do so, many Contracting Parties are currently engaging in drafting integrated energy and climate plans in line with the Governance Regulation of the Clean Energy Package. Without participating in the EU’s emission trading scheme, Montenegro has developed and launched its own cap-and-trade system. With the Energy Community’s acquis on reducing pollution from coal-fired power plants not yet respected, air pollution became an important issue of public concern in many Contracting Parties. Despite not adhering to the Paris Agreement, the use of coal came closer to being abandoned in Kosovo* with the failure of the Kosovo e Re project, against which the Secretariat had opened infringement procedures. North Macedonia publicly announced a coal phaseout programme. These are encouraging signs.

2019 Report: State of implementation

In the East, the Energy Community’s largest electricity market in Ukraine made a quantum leap in moving from a non-transparent single-buyer model to a governance corresponding broadly to the European target model. Ukraine’s neighbour Moldova seems committed to follow suit with unbundling. And even Georgia, the youngest member of the Energy Community and furthest away from its geographical core, is currently engaged in implementing the acquis communautaire. That many of these reforms may be implemented with a safety brake on, and not every measure has imminent success, is bearable when considering the Communist legacy and the huge social-economic as well as geopolitical challenges of these countries.

In the Western Balkans, several power exchanges are finally expected to go live in the near future, and 2020 may indeed see the first cases of market coupling. Montenegro seems well prepared for that. In 2019, the country again made it to the top of the performance list. North Macedonia, which had fallen behind under the previous Government, made an impressive return and established itself as reform champion in all energy sectors, a performance which unfortunately was not recognized by everybody.

2018 Report: State of implementation

This year’s implementation report written by the Secretariat’s experts once again provides a true and fair view of where the Contracting Parties stand today. Over years of intensive cooperation, the Secretariat has gained the insight necessary to provide a straightforward assessment. The results highlight that the Contracting Parties have made progress in their first energy transition, but still need to catch up. The average implementation score is at around 43%, ranging from 23% (Georgia) to 61% (Montenegro).

For the third year in a row, the focus remained on the implementation of the Third Energy Package. The Secretariat continued to assist the Contracting Parties in major tasks such as unbundling and certification of transmission system operators, unbundling of distribution system operators and full market opening. In May 2018, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia joined the other seven Contracting Parties which have already transposed the Third Package. With respect to the newest member of the Energy Community, Georgia, the Secretariat has intensified its efforts to support the country in order to meet the transposition deadlines set in its accession protocol.