Energy Community invites Armenia to become fully-fledged member

Posted on 29 febbraio 2016 By Roberto Giuliani Rubriche

The Energy Community organisation reports that its Director Janez Kopač met in Yerevan with Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Yervand Zakharyan, and invited the country to apply for full membership of the organization. Currently, Armenia holds observer status and full membership will benefit the country’s energy market.

During the meeting the two parties discussed how to intensify cooperation between Armenia and the Energy Community, especially in the electricity sector, and how to organise technical assistance that the European Union is offering. According to the Energy Community, Armenia, as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, is limited in transposition of the EU gas acquis.

The Energy Community is an international organisation dealing with energy policy. The organisation was established by an international treaty in October 2005 in Athens, Greece, and it entered into force in July 2006. The Treaty establishing the Energy Community brings together the European Union, on the one hand, and countries from the South East Europe and Black Sea region on the other. The key aim of the organisation is to extend the EU internal energy market to South East Europe and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework.

As of October 2013, the Energy Community has nine members: the European Union and eight Contracting Parties – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine. Georgia, Armenia, Norway and Turkey participate as Observers. Georgia has been in the process of joining the Energy Community as a fully-fledged member.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Link: enpi-info.eu