Western Balkans Should Be Included in EU Emission Trading System

Western Balkan Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Nov.13 2023 (BETAPHOTO/European Council/SIERAKOWSKI FREDERIC)

Greater investments and a quick inclusion of the Western Balkans into the EU’s system for emissions trading is the only efficient way for eliminating coal as fuel in the region’s energy sector, the Brussels-based Center for European Political Studies (CEPS) assessed on Feb. 28.

The current EU policy is too slow, not only because of the collapse of the energy sector, but also because of Russia’s influence in the region, reads the report of CEPS.

The organization stated that, if the EU or the West do not find a solution, with their money and technology, for the energy sector in the Western Balkans, the void will certainly be filled by China and Russia, “and that implies greater dependence on Russian gas and a higher risk of interruptions in the supply.”

“The energy sector in the Western Balkans is close to collapsing. Around two thirds of electricity in the Western Balkans is produced from lignite, most often in power plants that have operated for more than 40 years. The carbon intensity in the electric energy sector in the region is three times higher than in the EU, and almost none of the power plants can operate at the envisaged capacity,” CEPS stated in the report.