Within an activity of the Regional Network of Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance and European Integration of the Western Balkans, trilateral meeting of fifteen representatives of parliamentary committees competent for the field of energy from the Parliament of Montenegro, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska was held today on the topic: “Energy investments as a prerequisite for regional development in the Western Balkans”. With the support of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the meeting was held in Trebinje.

The participants were addressed by the Chairperson of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget of the Parliament of Montenegro and Chair of the Regional Network of Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance and European Integration of the Western Balkans Mr Aleksandar Damjanović, Chairperson of the Committee on European Integration and Regional Cooperation and member of the Board of the Network Mr Branislav Borenović and Mr Vladimir Marinković, MP of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and member of the Board of the Network.

Chair of the Network Mr Aleksandar Damjanović emphasised the need of promoting regional coordination as well as cooperation and role of parliaments which should be encouraged by the governments of the Western Balkan in promoting cooperation in the field of energy, defining common priorities and joint participation of regional countries before the big investors in this field.

Executive Director of the Electric Power Industry of the Republic of Srpska for economic and financial affairs Mr Blagoje Šupić presented the work of the enterprise while the President of the Energy Regulatory Board of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska Mr Milenko Čokorilo presented a legislative and regulatory framework for investment in the energy sector in the Republic of Srpska, afterwards the participants of the meeting exchanged views on manners of implementing effective parliamentary oversight over energy investments and energy policies as well as activities of MPs and parliamentary committees in the further progress of regional energy integration.

At the end of the trilateral meeting, the recommendations and opinions for supervision of investment in the energy sector in the parliaments of Western Balkans countries were adopted, in the following text:

Bearing in mind that energy sector was assessed as a great development opportunity for the Western Balkans and that decisions on the evaluation of energy resources that would be adopted in the period to come, would be of crucial importance for the future overall economic development, MPs of parliaments of Montenegro, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska, at the joint meeting of the Network of Parliamentary Committees on Economy, Finance and European Integration of the Western Balkans, held in Trebinje, on March 31, adopted the following recommendations and opinions:

1. It is necessary to strengthen parliamentary oversight in the field of energy, as well as increase transparency in making key decisions in this area, with the full participation of parliaments in accordance with the powers of the legislative authority;

2. It is necessary to initiate the creation of a joint document of Montenegro, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Srpska on cooperation in the energy sector, and initiate the harmonisation of legislative regulations in the field of energy, as well as defining common investment priorities in this area;

3. It is of particular importance to intensify cooperation between Montenegro, Serbia and the Republic of Srpska in the field of energy in terms of reaching agreements, in order to increase energy efficiency and efficiency of environmental and business rationalisation of public electric power companies;

4. There is a need to redefine the financial relationships between local communities and companies in the energy sector that are in the public domain in the sense of achieving adequate benefits that local communities acquire through valuation of energy resources in their area, following the recommendations of the European Charter of Local Self-Government;

5. Given the economic and energy interests of Montenegro, Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, and the need for cooperation in implementing joint projects, as well as the fact that the implementation of certain projects in the field of thermal energy is about to happen, in that sense it is necessary to define common interests through valuation of the existing hydropower resources, such as hydropower "Boka" and hydropower "Buk Bijela";

6. The participants agreed to hold a regional conference of parliamentarians from the parliaments of the countries of the Western Balkans, on the subject of energy in Montenegro at the end of September, with the participation of representatives of the executive authorities, as well as the academic and business communities in this area, with the goal of implementing activities aimed at strengthening regional energy cooperation.

On behalf of the Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget of the Parliament of Montenegro, the meeting was attended by the following MPs: Aleksandar Damjanović, Filip Vuković, Mladen Bojanić, Srđan Milić and Strahinja Bulajić.