Founded ten years ago to bring stability and investment to the war-torn countries of South-East Europe, the Energy Community has developed into Europe's key instrument to secure energy supplies. Recent developments in Ukraine, one of the Energy Community's members, as well as the incipient debate to create an Energy Union, highlight the importance of this organisation and its ever-increasing future relevance.Unlike other international organisations in the energy sphere, the Energy Community is based on the rule of law - namely European energy, competition and environmental law exported to non-EU countries - as well as pan-European integration. It features a unique set of institutions and procedures. This book offers unprecedented insight into all the relevant aspects of the Energy Community, including the ongoing debate on reform.This book is written by officials of the Energy Community and other international organisations as well as academics and practitioners from the legal and consultancy professions.

This book presents the first in-depth analysis of the export of the EU electricity acquis, through the imposition of an EU-type regional electricity market (REM) in SEE within the enlargement process. Among other germane issues, the author discusses the following: the suitability of the European model of electricity markets' liberalization for economies in transition;the use of the Public Services Obligations (PSO) to address the impact of electricity markets liberalization; the use of regulated prices and measures for granting priority rights for cross-border capacity allocation as PSOs; the Court of Justice judgement in Federutility on the sustainability of states' protection of their different types of customers, including the large businesses; the Energy Community as a step towards a Pan-European Energy Community;the effect of simultaneous national electricity markets liberalization and cross-border regional integration of national electricity markets; and the interplay between liberalization policy and reforms and the regulatory tools available to address their impact on provision of public services. The author's proposed rethinking of the public services obligation offers new views on using this tool more effectively and proposes possibilities for its practical implementation through measures such as energy efficiency, allocation of interconnectors' capacity, transparency, addressing the affordability issue and the protection of vulnerable customers. The book is remarkable for its clear analysis of the policy lessons arising from the export of the idea of liberalized energy markets