At today’s meeting, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Mr Janez Kopač has presented the 2017 Annual Implementation Report of the Secretariat with respect to Montenegro as well as the state of European integration of Montenegro in the field of energy.

The meeting was also attended by: Minister of Economy Ms Dragica Sekulić, Chair of the Energy Regulatory Agency Board Mr Branislav Prelević, and Project Manager of the GIZ project “Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe” Ms Jasna Sekulović.

During the meeting, members of the Committee also heard about views of the Energy Community with regard to situation in Montenegro, in the fields of: electricity, gas, oil, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, environmental and climate protection. It was pointed out that Montenegro, in comparison to other parties to the the Energy Community Treaty, achieved the most in the transposing and implementation of the acquis, and that it was the only contracting party without initiated offence procedure, but that it would have to follow the increasingly demanding changes in the European Union in this area.

Consideration was also given to topics such as: the need to meet the remaining measures from the Third Energy Package; investments in the field of energy and the importance of building an undersea cable with Italy; the need for the adoption of the Petroleum Products Mandatory Reserves Law; the need for full implementation of environmental legislation; the need to develop relevant legislation in the field of climate and strengthen competition in the retail electricity market, etc.

The Minister of Economy stressed that Montenegro has starting preparations in the field of energy in 2006, when it became a member of the Energy Community, and that Montenegro, through cooperation with the Secretariat of the Energy Community and fulfilment of obligations stemming from that membership, would be ready in the field of energy for EU accession. She pointed out that the Ministry would continue to fulfil its obligations through cooperation with the Energy Regulatory Agency and energy subjects.

The Chair of the Energy Regulatory Agency Board stressed that Montenegro’s was the only one that managed to be part of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) even though our country was not a member of the EU. He highlighted that as for offence procedures within the Energy Community, no procedures were initiated against Montenegro.

The representative of GIZ said that the project “Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe” provided support in the preparation of the Third Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, that in cooperation with the Secretariat, the First Parliamentary Forum of South-East Europe on Energy Efficiency and Climate was held, and that in the coming period, activities related to energy efficiency and climate protection would be conducted, to include, among others, members of the Committee.

It was assessed by the Committee that the activities which the Energy Community began with the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget in 2013, via the holding of meetings and the parliamentary plenum, were of exceptional importance for the work of MPs, as well as that the information available through reports of the Energy Community provided a good basis for comprehending the situation in this field.

Presentation by the Director of the Energy Community Secretariat is available below.

Presentation of the situation in European integration of Montenegro in the field of energy