Gradual access to the EU energy markets is within reach, Energy Community tells Berlin Process Summit 

Leaders of the Western Balkans Six, EU Member States and European partners met in Miločer, Budva for the 2026 Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister of Montenegro together with the Federal Chancellor of Germany. Director Artur Lorkowski stressed that the Energy Community offers concrete projects of gradual integration into the EU energy markets.

“Western Balkans access to the EU energy markets is the backbone of region’s energy resilience and transformation,” he said. “The EU offered the Western Balkans an accelerated access to EU energy markets, in particular in electricity, subject to legal compliance with the EU rules.” 

Earlier this month, the European Commission’s Communication “Preparing for a Wider Union” set out a merit-based approach to gradual integration. It would give accession countries earlier access to selected areas of the single market. Energy market integration can be a working model for this, Lorkowski emphasised. Through the Energy Community, the region is already adopting the EU’s internal energy market rules and can join Europe’s energy market before accession. 

EU policies, however, must move in step to support this process. In particular, while the region shares the goals of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Lorkowski cautioned that the way CBAM interacts with market integration and accession needs careful attention, so that it does not deter renewable investment or split markets at the Union’s borders. He welcomed the Commission’s proposals to address these issues and urged their swift adoption by the European Parliament and the EU member states.