(1)

The European Union is a Party to the Energy Community which aims to create a single regulatory space for energy markets in Europe.

(2)

The Contracting Parties (1) to the Energy Community aim at integrating their energy markets with the EU internal energy market by adapting the EU internal market legislation for gas and electricity and incorporating it into their national legislation.

(3)

The key principles of the EU internal market legislation for gas and electricity are laid down in Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for internal market in electricity (2), Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas (3), Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity (4) and Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks (5), which are applicable in the Member States as of 3 March 2011. Important rules of the EU internal market legislation for gas and electricity are also set out in legally binding network codes and guidelines, adopted on the basis of the above legislation and partially under development.

(4)

The Contracting Parties of the Energy Community are obliged to implement the above-mentioned directives and regulations 1 January 2015 (6) and apply the implementing measures as from the same date subject to few exceptions. Network codes and guidelines are also progressively incorporated into the legal order of the Energy Community.

(5)

Further EU internal market legislation for gas and electricity is envisaged to be implemented by the Contracting Parties, notably Directive 2005/89/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 concerning measures to safeguard security of electricity supply and infrastructure investment (7), Regulation (EU) No 994/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply and repealing Council Directive 2004/67/EC (8) and Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure and repealing Decision No 1364/2006/EC and amending Regulations (EC) No 713/2009, (EC) No 714/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 (9).

(6)

The geographical application of the EU internal market legislation for gas and electricity comprises the entire territory of the EU.

(7)

The Energy Community adopted on the 23 September 2014 an Interpretation by the Ministerial Council under Article 94 of the Energy Community Treaty in order to treat in the legal acts of the Energy Community incorporating European Union legislation the energy flows, imports and exports as well as commercial and balancing transactions, network capacities and interconnectors between Contracting Parties and EU Member States in the same way as the respective flows, imports, exports, transactions, capacities and infrastructure between Contracting Parties under Energy Community law.

(8)

Uniform treatment of cross-border flows, cross-border transactions and cross-border infrastructure (interconnections) between all Parties to the Energy Community Treaty is an important element of the single regulatory space for trade in gas and electricity and is an indispensable element to achieve the goals of the Energy Community. Moreover, the cooperation between the Energy Community Regulatory Board and the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators with regard to its decisions, is necessary in order to facilitate the integration of the Contracting Parties with the EU internal energy market.