Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova and Norway have just been admitted to the Energy Community * as observers.
On November 17, they attended the Organization's ministerial meeting for the first time, held in the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, in Skopje.
Observer status is the first step in joining the Energy Community. Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission, said: "We want the European Union to share the benefits of the internal energy market, we underline our commitment to our partners and we want security of energy supply".
The Energy Community is deliberately inspired by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, which is at the origin of the European Union. It is open to any country wishing to accept the rules of the Union energy market and having direct physical links with the electricity and gas networks of the European Union.
* Its current members are the European Union (25 member states), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania.
Source: European Community