SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), October 16 (SeeNews) – The Energy Community said on Friday it has, for the first time, adopted sanctions against Bosnia and Herzegovina over its failure to adopt the EU's Second Energy Package in the gas sector.
The Energy Community said in a press release following its 13th Ministerial Council in Tirana that it has made a decision to impose sanctions on Bosnia for a period of one year for not fulfilling its energy obligations.
Last year, the Community decided to postpone possible sanctions until 2015, despite the country having made a number of breaches of the community’s gas law.
Earlier this year, the Energy Community Secretariat told SeeNews that Bosnia stands to lose financial support from the European Union for its energy sector because it has not adopted an energy strategy at the state level and fails to adhere to commitments taken on as part of its membership in the Community.
In regards to other events, the Community adopted a 20% headline target on energy efficiency by 2020 paving the way for further energy efficiency improvements beyond that date.
"As in the EU, the Directive will require the Contracting Parties to adopt energy savings obligation schemes for energy distribution and retail companies, promote efficiency in heating and cooling and co-generation and apply yearly targets for the renovation of central government buildings," the Community said.
It also ratified the trans-European energy infrastructure regulation, which is set to establish a comprehensive regulatory and legal framework for streamlining the permitting, regulatory and cost-allocation procedures for Projects of Energy Community Interest, thus helping to improve the investment climate in the Energy Community.
The Vienna-based Energy Community was established by an international law treaty in October 2005. As of July 1, 2013, the parties to the treaty are the European Union and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine. The key aim of the organization is to extend the EU internal energy market to Southeast Europe and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework.