The pace of transposing the EU regulations in the energy sector must be accelerated. The Republic of Moldova committed itself to transpose 43 directives and regulations of the EU. The transposition of some of these is already late given that the deadlines expire mainly at the start of 2017. These are some of the findings of a study of the implementation of the Association Agreement/DCFTA in the energy sector, which was carried out by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Moldova, IPN reports.
Iulian Groza, expert of the Institute for European Politics and Reforms, told a news conference that the approval of the decisions and regulations concerning the implementation of the legislation in his field is a problem. The transposition of the Community acquis in the natural gas and electric power sectors is another problem, given the alternative interconnection projects. Moldova should accelerate the construction of alternative interconnections for natural gas and electricity with Romania so as to benefit from the more competitive energy market of the EU.
The expert said the putting of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline into operation was an accomplishment, but it is important to finish the second phase of this project until 2018 so as to use this pipeline at full capacity. The acceleration of the construction of high-voltage power lines until 2019 for asynchronous integration with ENTSO-E through Romania should represent another short-term priority for the Governments of Moldova and Romania. In the memorandum of understanding signed by the two states in 2015, the value of these projects is set at €720 million.
Iulian Groza said Parliament should swiftly adopt the bills on natural gas and electric power so as to transpose Energy Package 3, in accordance with the recommendations of the Energy Community Secretariat, because its implementation is overdue. The same is true about the provisions on renewable sources of energy given that Parliament delayed the adoption of the relevant bill for over a year.
He underlined the necessity of ensuring the independence of the National Agency for Energy Regulation so that it worked in conditions of maximum transparency, especially when approving the tariffs of energy resources. According to the study, Moldova has insignificant reserves of solid fuels, crude oil and natural gas and is 96% dependent on imported energy resources. Also, 70-75% of the equipment used in the energy sector is outdated and thus the losses in the distribution and transportation networks are high.
