USAID Energy Security Project will assist Ukraine with translating the key energy sector-related acts of the EU acquis

Since 2018, the USAID Energy Security Project (ESP) has been supporting the Government of Ukraine (GoU) in aligning the country’s energy markets (primarily, their overall setup and core principles of functioning) with the ones of the European Union. Among other support, USAID ESP has been helping GoU address the pending transposition of the EU legislation (acquis communautaire) pertinent to the electricity and gas sectors and ensuring its further effective implementation in Ukraine.

As the Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Matti Maasikas, noted during the meeting with the Committee on Energy and Utilities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in end-November 2022: “A dedicated roadmap for the energy market integration has recently been agreed between Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and the European Commission’s Director General for Energy. The adoption of the compatible legislation for effective functioning of the energy markets is obviously a key component of this roadmap.” Therefore, especially given the EU candidate status conditionally granted to the country in June 2022, the eventual progress with the actual adoption of the EU acquis will be an important asset in terms of the future negotiating the Treaty of Accession.

An essential basic element of the overall adoption process is a high-quality, precise, and exact (word-to-word) official translation of the key acts of the EU acquis in the energy sector. It is especially crucial to ensure the letter and spirit of the EU acquis (especially its basic definitions and key principles) are accurately interpreted and translated to avoid any potential distortions in the translation process. Therefore, it is crucially important that the translated text passes not only the “terminology check” but also the overall proofreading by the sector experts familiar with the interpretation and practical application of specific provisions of the EU acquis.

For that reason, in coordination with its partners from the European Commission, the EU Delegation to Ukraine, and the Energy Community Secretariat, the USAID ESP has already undertaken the effort of translating the key acts of the EU acquis pertinent to the energy sector, using its both available and newly mobilized professional and knowledgeable resources. The first important piece of the EU legislation being translated by the USAID ESP is constituted by the Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal electricity market, which will be accomplished and made publicly available on this website shortly. The next important act, constituted by the Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal electricity market, will be subsequently translated and published soon, too. Furthermore, the USAID ESP plans to provide the translation of the key acts of the EU Third Energy Package related to the gas sector, which haven’t been officially translated so far, namely, Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and REGULATION (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks. Other vital documents from the Clean Energy Package are also in the pipeline and will be delivered in due time in the future.