Cooperation with the Energy Community
The EU and the European Atomic Energy Union and their member states, on the one hand, and Georgia, on the other hand, signed the Association Agreement on 27 June 2014. The Agreement envisages the rapprochement with the European Union and the harmonization of the Georgian legislation with the EU legal acts.The Agreement provides for the possibility of Georgia's accession to the European Energy Community.One of the important steps that Georgia has taken in the process of European integration and energy sector development is Georgia’s accession to the Energy Community Treaty. The 14th Energy Community Ministerial Council unanimously approved the accession of Georgia to the Energy Community Treaty at its meeting in Sarajevo on 14 October 2016. The Minister of Energy of Georgia signed, on behalf of Georgia, the Protocol of the Accession of Georgia to the Energy Community Treaty. The Protocol took effect on 21 April 2017, when the Parliament of Georgia ratified it. Georgia has been an observer in the organization since 2007.The negotiations on full-fledged membership of Georgia started in 2014 and the last round was held in May 2016, which was especially constructive for developing common understanding and approaches.
Harmonization of Legislation
The Protocol of the Accession of Georgia to the Energy Community Treaty and the EU/Georgia Association Agreement provides for harmonization of the Georgian legislation with the EU requirements aim to establishing a competitive market in the energy sector. These documents directly refer to the EU directives and regulations which Georgia is obliged to transpose. The documents in the energy sector include:
- Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/ECb)
- 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 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1228/2003c)
- 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.
The following legal acts have been developed and enacted based on cooperation with European experts to implement the above-mentioned acts:
- Law of Georgia on Energy and Water Supply
- Law of Georgia on Encouraging Generation and Use of Energy from Renewable sources
- Law of Georgia on Energy Efficiency
- Security of Supply of Electricity Rules
The Government of Georgia approved the Concept of Energy Market Model by Decree No 246 of 16 April 2020.
In December 2022, the incorporation of the "Clean Energy Package" into the Energy Community legislation was completed. The Energy Community made Regulation 2019/941 mandatory for the Contracting Parties. Georgia was the first member state of the Energy Community to transpose this regulation into national legislation. The regulation was transposed along with three annexes in the form of "Security of Supply of Electricity Rules" (hereinafter - "Supply Rules") approved on December 2, 2020. Its main provisions were prepared by GSE in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (hereinafter - "Ministry") and the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission.
Within the framework of transposing Regulation 2019/941, GSE was actively involved in preparing the Security of Supply of Electricity Statement, which the Ministry is obligated to publish under Article 138, Paragraph 2 of the Law on "Energy and Water Supply." This statement was first published in 2021 and then again in 2024 on the Ministry's website following intensive communication and cooperation with the Energy Community Secretariat.
The transposition of this regulation was completed with the approval of the Risk Preparedness Plan, which GSE was obligated to draft under Article 7, Paragraph 1 of the Supply Rules. GSE developed the draft plan with the assistance and funding from the Energy Community and EU4Energy. Since the document contained information that was advisable to classify according to Article 6(e.a) of the Georgian Law on "State Secrets," two versions of the plan were created. The Energy Community approved the document and determined that its content and structure complied with the requirements of Regulation 2019/941. The public version of the plan was published by the Ministry in July 2024.
In 2024, with the support of the World Bank, the transposition of (EU) 2022/869 Trans-European Energy Infrastructure (hereinafter - "TEN-E") Regulation into national legislation began. The transposition of this regulation represents a significant step toward implementing the Black Sea submarine cable project. The World Bank prepared the initial draft of the TEN-E Regulation, which reflects the provisions adapted by the Energy Community. A working group has been established to properly manage this process, in which GSE employees participate along with other relevant agencies.
