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"Red letter day" for South-East Europe

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• Historic step forward towards full integration into the EU single energy market

• first example of sectoral enlargement to date

October 25, 2005 -- Countries of South-East Europe took a historic step forward on October 25 towards full integration into the EU single energy market, a first example of a sectoral enlargement to date.

Speaking at the Signing Ceremony of the Treaty Establishing Energy Community between the European Union and South-East Europe in Athens today, Erhard Busek, Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe, said that the "implementation of this treaty will have far-reaching political, economic and social consequences for all of us, among them the development of a stable and efficient energy supply in South-East Europe, the introduction of market based regulatory systems and the geo-political importance of securing different supply routes for energy in Europe."

Moreover, in his speech Busek emphasised that this Treaty highlighted the benefits of regional co-operation for South-East Europe:

• From an economic point of view the demands facing South-East Europe are so great that only through regional co-operation can limited resources be put to the most efficient and effective use;

• In the energy sector alone, the World Bank has estimated that approximately EUR 12.5 billion will be required in the next 15 years to rehabilitate existing power plants and construct new ones and this is on top of the EUR 8.3 billion required for investments in transmission and distribution;

• Regional co-operation is a cornerstone of the EU accession process and one that it carefully monitored by the EU Member States and the European Commission;

• Therefore, regional co-operation is not an "optional extra" to the bilateral relations with the European Commission -- after all, the countries are seeking to become a member of what is one of the most successful regional co-operation bodies in the world.

Busek used the opportunity in Athens to highlight the excellent leadership of the European Commission in this energy initiative and in particular, the role played by the Directorate General for Transport and Energy. He also thanked international financial institutions and bilateral donors such as Canada, Germany, France and the USA for their commitment to the Energy Treaty.

Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis called the treaty a landmark in the course of the peoples of the region and a harbinger of new relations, as well as the springboard for wider economic co-operation. Greek development minister Dimitris Sioufas hailed the treaty as a catalyst for improvement of the safety and adequacy of energy, the attraction of large-scale investments, reinforcement of the European prospects of the countries of the region, and improvement of the standard of living of the region's peoples.

Turkey was the only country in the region that did not sign the energy pact. The treaty requires Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYROM, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro to transpose European Union regulations aimed at creating a pan-European market for electricity and gas. Liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets in these new countries is expected to be completed by 2008 for companies and by 2015 for consumers.

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