Serbia fails to comply with provisions on heavy fuel oil

Serbia failed to comply with the provisions of the Directive 1999/32/EC on the maximum sulphur content of heavy fuel oil, the Energy Community Secretariat said in a statement after assessment with the requirements for the participation of the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) in working groups of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

The report highlights shortcoming such as the lack of unbundling and certification in electricity and gas. It addresses the usage of revenues from allocation of electricity interconnection transmission capacities, deregulation of electricity and gas prices for households and small customers, the participation of transmission system operator Elektromreža Srbije (EMS) in a regionally coordinated electricity cross-border capacity allocation, and the Serbian entity’s disputes with Kosovo’s* Transmission, System and Market Operator JSC – KOSTT.

“Environmental impact assessment in Serbia is governed by the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of 2004, as amended in 2009. The list of activities requiring an environmental impact assessment is transposed by the Decree on the Lists of Projects Subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, adopted in 2011″, the document stated. Overall, the country reached a high level of transposition, according to the secretariat. In 2013 it launched an infringement case, which has been referred to the Ministerial Council by a reasoned request in May of this year.

Serbia had adopted new legislation regulating the emissions of large combustion plants, namely the Regulation on Emission Limit Values of Pollutants into the Air from Combustion Plants and the Regulation on the Measurements of Emissions of Pollutants into Air from Stationary Sources of Pollution, the secretariat noted. It added the regulations transposed the requirements of the Large Combustion Plants Directive (for existing plants) and the Industrial Emissions Directive (for new plants) and that it would enable the country to implement the provisions of the directives by December 31 2017, the deadline set by the treaty.

Serbia prepared and submitted a national emission reduction plan last December, the document said. The secretariat underscored it expects compliance with the directives on large combustion plants and industrial emissions will be in six to twelve months following the implementation deadline.