Energy Community Parliamentarians agree to tackle shared challenges through common parliamentary assembly
07 May 2015
For the first time, a joint meeting between Members of the European Parliament and Members of the Energy Community Contracting Parties’ Parliaments took place on 6 May in Brussels. The meeting served to assess the progress achieved so far by the Energy Community and its role in contributing to EU energy policy objectives and tackling future challenges. Parliamentarians from the Energy Community Contracting Parties were united in their call for the establishment of a parliamentary assembly to address shared energy challenges and achieve the Energy Community’s objectives.
Opening the meeting, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Energy Community, Professor Jerzy Buzek, said: “The Energy Community has proven to be the trusted instrument for extending the rules governing the EU’s internal energy market to the wider European neighbourhood. It is a win-win instrument in terms of working to create a secure, competitive and sustainable energy space both inside and outside the EU’s borders. It is thus naturally one of the key pillars of the external dimension of the Energy Union. Today’s meeting serves to activate inter-parliamentary cooperation in the Energy Community”.
Following a presentation by Energy Community Secretariat Director Kopač, at least one representative of every country delegation took the floor. Mr Eduard Shalsi, Member of the Parliament of Albania, the country currently holding the Energy Community Presidency, highlighted the importance of today’s exchange of views in terms of addressing common challenges faced by EU Member States and the Energy Community Contracting Parties and increasing the democratic legitimacy of the Energy Community. “Improving parliamentary oversight of the Energy Community process is essential given the organisation’s increasingly influential role in energy – a sector with significant economic and social impact. Judging by my own experience with the recent adoption of the Third Energy Package electricity law in Albania, greater involvement of parliamentarians serves to generate political support for national energy reforms. I sincerely welcome today’s initiative. In the future this cooperation could be formalised by the establishment of an Energy Community Parliamentary Assembly.”