The gas crisis and South-East Europe. Review (in english) of the 'Mardi de l'IFRI' with Olivier Silla in Brussels, 10 March 2009

In the gas crisis of January 2009, South-East Europe (SEE) was probably the region most impacted. It was therefore interesting to analyze how the region's energy sector and policy makers reacted and which lessons can be drawn from these days. It is pointed that SEE has a relatively low utilization of gas, but most countries in the region are highly dependent on one single supplier, Gazprom. Overall gas consumption in SEE is very limited in absolute terms and gas use is limited to industry and district heating in most cases. With the exception of Greece, and for a small part Croatia, gas is not used for electricity production in SEE, lessening the impact of the supply disruption for the region. Gas reaches the region via three main pipeline branches that all go through Ukraine but are not inter-linked (hence no possibility to bring gas from one branch to another). For the overall coordination and cooperation in the energy sector, the Energy Community plays an important role in SEE. Set up in 2006, it provides a flexible framework and helps reforming the region's energy sector. In the context of the Energy Community, SEE countries are obliged to introduce the EU attainments on energy. Moreover, the Energy Community also foresees ambitious goals for regional solidarity