Georgia ratified the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in 1995. Since then, cross-border energy trade and transit activities in Georgia have been regulated within the Energy Charter multilateral legal framework.
In January 2013 Georgia applied for membership in the Energy Community, which is the basic platform for Southern and Eastern European markets for access to the common energy market of the European Union (EU).
The main purpose of this report is to assess the core pillars of the new legal framework provided by the Energy Community Treaty (EnC Treaty) and EU Energy Law with respect to cross-border gas trade and access conditions for natural gas transportation infrastructure. At the same time, it seeks to distinguish the differential treatment provided in the existing multilateral legal frameworks (ECT and GATT/WTO) and the EnC Treaty/EU rules with regard to transit and cross-border trade.
The report shows in particular how the EnC Treaty/EU energy rules may be implemented in the geographically isolated energy market of Georgia with respect to gas transit pipelines crossing the territory of the country, taking into account Georgia’s existing commitments in the WTO and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and, to the extent possible, the Association Agreement concluded between Georgia and the EU on 27 June 2014.