This was a meeting of the Athens Process, established by the Energy Community Agreement signed in the Greek capital on 25 October 2005 by Croatia -- the incumbent chair, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and the UN Mission in Kosovo. The aim is to have these countries to enter the EU's energy market. Ukraine, Moldova and Norway are included in the process as observers.
Vukelic told the press before the meeting the fact that Croatia chaired the process was an acknowledgement of the progress it had made in the energy sector.
The Energy Community Agreement has been ratified in the European Parliament, Croatia, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Romania, and UNMIK, while Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro are expected to ratify it soon.
The agreement will go into force next month given that it has been ratified by at least six states.
The agreement covers electricity and gas and will cover petrol in the future. It will facilitate access to investment on the energy market and provides a new framework for cooperation in the energy sector among Southeast European countries and the EU based on the European acquis communautaire.
This was the first ministerial meeting of the Energy Community and the EU Energy Council.
Vukelic said the enforcement of the agreement would make Croatia part of the EU energy market, which he added would soon be fully liberalised.
He said Croatia had adopted a set of energy laws whereby the market would be fully liberalised over the next two years.
European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told the joint press conference before the meeting the EU was embarking on the liberalisation of the energy market because it felt that every citizen was entitled to choose a supplier and to pay energy at prices which reflected open competition.
Croatia meets 46.4 per cent of its energy requirements from domestic sources, but given an intensive rise in consumption it is estimated that this figure will drop to 20 per cent by 2030. Vukelic said this called for opening the possibility of major investment and focusing on higher energy effectiveness.