Moldova will request to postpone a deadline to third energy package-the new Gordian knot

Moldova will request a postponement of the implementation deadline for the EU's Third Energy Package from 2016 until 2020 at the annual meeting of the European ministers for energy on 18 October. The Ministerial Council of the Energy Community will decide if the EU accepts the postponement of the implementation of the energy agreements, in particular those regarding the natural gas market.

It is not a simple formality despite the fact that the EU officials said that they would be backing Moldova.

The Third Energy Package being a new one, even some EU countries are facing difficulties when implementing it. The deadline for its implementation was initially scheduled for 3 March 2011. Later at some states request, the term was extended by one year. Eight countries, including Romania, Estonia and Bulgaria, failed to implement the package. The European Commission in April 2012 warned five states that they would be sued for not observing the acquis communautaire. According to the EC, the implementation of the Third Energy Package must be completed by 2014.

True, Moldova is a non-EU member state, but it is already a member of the Energy Community. Only the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community can decide on the derogation.

The Moldovan authorities were understood and backed by the EU institutions. The delay «was strictly coordinated with our partners of the European Commission, including with the commissioner for energy,» Prime Minister Vlad Filat said.

A week before the annual meeting of the European ministers for energy, EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger urged the EU member states to help Moldova. A few days later, the head of the delegation of the European Union to Moldova, Dirk Schuebel, said Moldova's relations with its energy partners were on the right track. The EU envoy said «there is no doubt Moldova must be part of the Energy Community».

Moldova is going to ask the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community to consent to a four-year delay to find a mutually advantageous solution, including for Gazprom. This is not about giving up the energy agreements with the EU.

The new energy Gordian knot, into which the Third Energy Package got embroiled, will probably get cut either at tomorrow's meeting or in the near future. The thing that counts the most in the equation of a secure energy future is moving forward, in spite of the delay in the mplementation of the Third Energy Package.

Experts in this field believe it is extremely important to create a logbook by 2020, including specific actions and deadlines, so that joining the EU Energy Community would become irreversible this year.

Authorities have set an ambitious goal in the energy strategy by 2030. They want Moldova to become an active judge on the regional energy market. A lot depends on the things that are going to be done during the next eight years. We must implement the Third Energy Package by 2020.

Adapted from Moldpres