IP/06/841 Commissioner Piebalgs attends the opening the central institution of the Energy Community

Brussels, Belgium – Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs together with President of the EU Energy Council, Dr. Martin Bartenstein visited 2006-06-26 in Vienna the Treaty Secretariat, the central co-ordinating body of the Energy Community Treaty. The Secretariat will run the day to day work of the Energy Community and undertake analytical work, both tasks under the co-ordination of the Commission. The first Director of the Secretariat will be Mr Slavtcho Neykov, a Bulgarian, who was instrumental in negotiating Bulgaria’s accession process in the energy sector and who has also worked previously in the Energy Charter Secretariat.

“The inauguration of the secretariat marks an important milestone in the constitution of the world’s largest electricity and gas market,” said Commissioner Piebalgs.

"Austria is very pleased to be host country of the Energy Community Secretariat. It is the third important international energy policy institution alongside OPEC and IAEA located in Austria," said Minister Bartenstein.

The Athens’s Treaty, signed 25 October 2005, gave birth to the Energy Community. The treaty is likely to come into force in the coming months. The Energy Community comprises the entire European Union and Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo), Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Bulgaria. The members of the Community will share the application of the energy, environmental, renewables, competition and other parts of the legislation and rules decided at EU level that affect the electricity and gas markets. This will effectively create an energy market that embraces most of the European Continent.

The Secretariat is one of the main institutions of the Treaty and the only one that is independent of the parties of the Treaty.

Andris Piebalgs Energy Commissioner, Opening Secretariat of the Energy Community Treaty, Speech at the opening of the Secretariat of the South East Europe Energy Community Treaty, Vienna, 26 June 2006