| Press Release 18-07 Energy regulators across Europe and the Eastern and Mediterranean region sign cooperation arrangement
Vienna, 12 December 2018
A signing ceremony held in Vienna, Austria, brought together the Presidents of three regional associations of energy regulatory authorities. Presidents Garrett Blaney of CEER1, Giorgi Pangani of the ECRB2 and Gülefşan Demirbaş of MEDREG3 signed a Cooperation Arrangement that will strengthen regulatory cooperation between energy regulators across Europe through to the Mediterranean, South East Europe and Black Sea regions.
All three associations have dedicated themselves to fostering a compatible and transparent energy regulation by promoting best practices and exchanging experiences. There are also some common memberships of the organisations, which naturally promotes convergence of goals and principles. “The arrangement is a logical next step forward for our organisations for greater pan-European integration” said Garrett Blaney, CEER. “It reaffirms the values that we all share and puts our cooperation on a firmer basis” added Giorgi Pangani, ECRB. “We are moving from individual initiatives for cooperation to an integrated approach” said Gülefşan Demirbaş, MEDREG. Three chairs stressed the importance of achieving a common set of harmonised regulatory and legal rules for interconnected gas and electricity systems. In particular, this cooperation lays the groundwork for enhanced cooperation across four fields:
- exchanging best practices in the field of energy market regulation;
- promoting capacity building, joint events and training on regulatory topics;
- strengthening existing bilateral and trilateral cooperation mechanisms; and
- developing joint reports where feasible and beneficial for all three organisations. On the occasion of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union, the signing ceremony took place at the premises of Austrian regulator, E Control in Vienna. “I am honoured to have these three Presidents here and to host this event. I am now looking forward to seeing this cooperation evolve in practice” says E-Control Executive Director, Wolfgang Urbantschitsch. In addition, at its General Assembly meeting, CEER admitted the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) into its ranks as a new CEER observer. Mr Blaney stated “Welcoming Serbia into CEER is a further sign of the growing cooperation among regulators in Europe and the Western Balkans”. Ends - see Notes for Editors | 
