According to the Article 96 of the Treaty, any neighbouring third country may be accepted as an Observer to the Energy Community. Under the Observer status, a country may attend the meetings of the institutions, without taking part in the discussions and voting.

At its first meeting in Nov 2006, the Ministerial Council accepted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Energy Community Treaty the following countries as Observers: Moldova, Norway, Turkey and Ukraine. Upon reasoned request by Georgia, the Ministerial Council accepted Georgia as an Observer to the Energy Community in Dec 2007. Similarly, Armenia was granted an Observer status by the 9th Ministerial Council in Oct 2011.

After having received the Observer status, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey  formally expressed their interest in full membership. Mandated by the Ministerial Council, the European Commission had the first round of formal negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine in late 2008. The first round of negotiations with Turkey took place in Sep 2009. After three negotiation rounds, the technical negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine on full membership were concluded in 2009. The Ministerial Council,  however, made the effective membership subject to concrete legislative amendments. Whilst Moldova became a full fledged member as of 1 May 2010, Ukraine officially acceded the Energy Community on 1 February 2011.

As of 6 Oct 2011, the following Observers are part of the process:
 

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