Georgia prepares for Energy Community membership

Georgia is upgrading legislation on the country’s energy sector so as to align with European standards and prepare for membership in the Energy Community (EC).

The EC is currently helping Georgia create a new law on energy, which aims to help with the implementation of the EU’s Third Energy Package in the electricity and gas sectors, the purpose of which is to further open and align gas and electricity markets with those of the EU.

The EC is an international organisation and initiative of the European Union (EU), which seeks to "extend the EU internal energy market to South East Europe and beyond” and to establish a more homogenous and unified energy system across the continent.

The Ministry of Energy of Georgia has been working on a new energy bill with EC experts and now the draft law is being deliberated upon.

Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Janez Kopač arrived this week in Georgia to meet with Georgian Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze.

Georgian officials, including the Ministry of Energy, at the meeting with the authorities from the EC, who visited Georgia this week. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Energy.

The meeting focused on the pace of the country’s energy reforms, especially Georgia’s accession to the EC and its upcoming energy bill.

Prepared by the EC Secretariat the draft law is expected to be adopted over the course of 2017 in order to pave the way for its implementation by the end of 2018.

As for Georgia’s membership in the EC, membership negotiations started in 2014 and were successfully completed in 2016 when Georgia signed the accession protocol on joining the EC in October.

Georgia is expected to join the EC as a full-fledged member in spring 2017, following the ratification of the accession agreement by the Parliament of Georgia.

Currently EC members include the entirety of the in addition to Albania, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine.