1. MARCO DE REFERENCIA
1.1. Análisis situacional
Regional energy cooperation is, on the regulatory and technical levels, reinforced by the Mediterranean Energy Regulators (MedReg), the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (Med-TSO), the Mediterranean Energy Observatory (OME), the Mediterranean Association of the National Agencies for Energy Conservation (MEDENER) and Renewable Energy Solutions for the Mediterranean (RES4MED). On the industrial level, it used to be, as shown before, backed by initiatives like Desertec and Medgrid.626
Whilst the overriding aim of these organisations is similar, namely the integration of Euro- Mediterranean energy markets, each operator nonetheless pursues its own individual targets according to its strategic focus (see Table 7).
Table 7: Overview of regional energy initiatives in the Mediterranean
Association Focus Vision/Mission Objectives
MedReg Sustainable energy (energy efficiency)
'Provide a level playing field for all
Mediterranean energy actors '
a) 'promote a greater compatibility of the energy markets
and legislations and seek progressive market integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region ' and
b) 'foster sustainable development in the energy sector
through greater efficiency and integration of energy markets based on secure, safe, cost-effective and
environmentally sustainable energy systems '
Med-TSO Electricity ‘Being the reference professional and
strategic body for every technical, market and policy issues related to the Mediterranean electricity systems: a competent, prepositive and proactive guide
to which European and Mediterranean institutions and stakeholders could refer ’
'Support all the technical and institutional initiatives
aiming at the development of an integrated, secure and sustainable regional electricity transmission grid, in order
to facilitate the creation of a Mediterranean energy market '
MEDENER Energy conservation & sustainable energy (renewable energy sources
& energy efficiency)
‘Create an interface with public and private
actors in the Mediterranean region ’ in
order to ‘establish synergies in the national
discussions between institutional and private actors ’ 'to facilitate the implementation of energy and sustainable
urban development projects ’
a) 'ensure project quality by developing common
standards, labels, tool and methods ' and
b) 'organise skill-building for MEDENER members and
partners with a view to streamlining investments ' and
c) 'support the implementation of energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects using MEDENER's collective expertise to identify and qualify these projects '
RES4MED Renewable energy sources ‘Function as a bridge between members and
partners of emerging markets for an exchange of perspectives and expertise ’
'Promote the deployment of large-scale and decentralized
renewable energy (RE) and energy eciency (EE) solutions in Southern-Mediterranean markets to meet local energy
needs for growth '
Regional energy initiatives in the Mediterranean
Source: Own elaboration based on MedReg, Med-TSO, MEDENER and RES4MED (Accessed on 08 February 2018).
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There is consensus that MedReg and Med-TSO are the most relevant players as regards the enhancement of regional energy cooperation, given that one way of achieving energy cooperation is via market reform which, in turn, calls for the harmonisation of rules and the establishment of regulators.627 Moreover, they, like the regulators and non-profit organisations
in general, are well respected as they are ‘widely seen as above private interests’ and ‘as not involved in current political conflicts’.628 Respectively established in 2007 (in Paris, but under
Italian law) and 2012 (in Rome),629 MedReg and Med-TSO are non-profit bottom-up
organisations that act as platforms for the voluntary exchange of knowledge and are not entrusted with any powers to issue legally binding decisions. By contrast, they can only give policy orientations for best practices and whilst their fundamental characteristics are quite similar, they do however address different issues and provide analysis on different topics. Having been started in 2006 as a voluntary working group, the Mediterranean Energy
Regulators (MedReg) transformed into a permanent organisation in 2007 and, as of today, is
regularly cited as the most successful example of regional energy cooperation (SARTORI, 2014:6), the context in which it was granted an observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) in 2008.630 Based in Milan, MedReg consists of 25 Mediterranean
energy regulators (9 of which are located in the MENA region) aiming at promoting ‘a transparent, stable and harmonized legal and regulatory framework in the Mediterranean region.’631 Its major challenges are the productivity of the energy and electricity sectors as well
as a lack of energy efficiency.632 In order to meet this challenge, MedReg seeks to attract
investment, whereby it faces great hurdles, ranging from the elimination of energy subsidies to the protection of low-income population groups. In order to respond to these challenges, it seeks to foster sustainable development through environmentally sustainable energy systems and greater energy efficiency.633 To this end, it has set up specific working groups (WGs), with one
WG focusing on electricity (ELE WG), one on gas (GAS WG) and one on the environment, RES and EE (RES WG).634
In order to realise its objectives sustainably, MedReg strongly advocates the establishment of independent national regulatory agencies for energy systems and energy market competition in each of its member countries, whereby it uses a bottom-up approach, i.e. it is generally the ‘target countries’ themselves who take the initiative and contact the organisation for expertise and support. This also applies to Morocco which is an official member but does not yet have an official energy regulator (Interview MedReg, 2017),635 a role that is currently assumed by the
MEM.636 Aware that this cannot be a long-term solution though and recognising that the lack of a
veritable regulator has been considerably limiting the attractiveness of the Moroccan energy market to private investors (BIANCHI, COLANTONI, MASCOLO and SARTORI, 2018:22), the Moroccan government has on various occasions expressed its interest in establishing a
627 EP (Accessed on 22 November 2018).
628 EP (Accessed on 24 November 2018).
629 Both MedReg and Med-TSO were strongly promoted by the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy (AEEGSI).
630 MedReg (Accessed on 30 December 2017).
631 MedReg (Accessed on 19 December 2017)
632 MedReg (Accessed on 10 February 2018).
633 IEA (Accessed on 20 December 2017).
634 MedReg (Accessed on 30 December 2017).
635 Morocco and Tunisia are the only North African members of MedReg without a regular regulator (Interview MedReg, 2017).
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regulator.637 In this context, MedReg has sought to promote an exchange of know-how with
MEM, where it has started to provide specialised training and capacity-building activities on all the aspects of energy regulation and market integration,638 often in cooperation with the GIZ. It
does not maintain any official contacts with either MASEN or the ONEE (Interview MedReg, 2017).
Headquartered in Rome, the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (Med-TSO) was founded in 2012 and is a ‘technical platform for facilitating the integration of the Mediterranean’ composed of 20 Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (TSOs) for electricity from 18 Mediterranean countries. Inspired by the work of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E),639 Med-TSO’s overall mission is to develop an
‘integrated, secure and sustainable electricity transmission grid, in order to facilitate the creation of a Mediterranean energy market.’640 The member operator from Morocco is ONEE. In order to
achieve its aim, Med-TSO seeks to establish a multilateral platform for energy cooperation in the Mediterranean and the set-up of a harmonised energy framework in order to attract investment. Subsidiary objectives in this context are regional security and socio-economic developments such as the reduction of CO2 emissions in the Mediterranean region. As this implies, renewable
energy sources are not an objective per se, but rather seen as input or a starting point for grid stability (Interview Med-TSO, 2017). Med-TSO sees itself as a technical platform that ‘uses multilateral cooperation as a strategy of regional development’641 and as such, it promotes
regional projects that aim at ‘increasing security and quality of power supply’ and at ‘facilitating the integration of new energy sources’.642 An example here is the so-called Mediterranean Project
which seeks to achieve ‘progressive harmonization and strengthening of the electricity markets in the Mediterranean region’643 and for which the organisation received three-year financing from
the EU.644 Prior to this, in 2013, Med-TSO was also entrusted with the realisation of the Master
Plan for the Mediterranean Electricity Interconnections in the context of the MSP. Its main responsibility was the collection and analysis of the National Development Plans (NDPs) of the power systems of the Mediterranean countries.645 By contrast, Med-TSO was never part of the
Desertec project (Interview Med-TSO, 2017).
Launched in 1988, the Observatoire Méditerranéen de l'Energie or Mediterranean Energy
Observatory (OME) is a nonprofit association based in Paris whose aim is the promotion of
energy cooperation in the Mediterranean region. Associated partners are the Mediterranean agencies for energy efficiency (in the case of Morocco, AMEE) and RES4MED646 and the
association’s network of business and policy partners spreads over a total of sixteen countries, whereby it acts both as a platform for exchange and as a provider of energy data and information or think tank. Here, and contrary to MedReg and Med-TSO, OME strongly focuses on private sector cooperation and has a particular close link with the industry,647 a context in which
637MedReg (Accessed on 21 December 2017).
638 MedReg (Accessed on 19 December 2017).
639 whereby it must be noted here that Med-TSO does not aspire to replicate the ENTSO-E experience in the Mediterranean, given the
vast diversity of its member countries (Interview Med-TSO,2017).
640 Med-TSO.
641 Med-TSO (Accessed on 04 February 2018).
642 Med-TSO (Accessed on 30 December 2017).
643 Med-TSO (Accessed on 30 December 2017).
644 MedTSO (Accessed on 30 December 2017).
645 Med-TSO (Accessed on 31 December 2017).
646 OME (Accessed on 04 January 2017).
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it counts amongst its members energy majors like EDF, Enel, Edison, Engie, Eni, Shell and Total, etc. The association does not specialise on one energy topic but covers a wide range of different energy issues (ranging from LNG to sustainable energy in the context of climate change),648
regularly carrying out studies and organising conferences, workshops and trainings.649 At the
international level, it participates in UN and EU projects and works closely with the UfM. Indeed, apart from regularly participating in the UfM’s Ministerial Meetings,650 it is strongly involved in
the organisation’s three energy platforms. For example, whilst running the Secretariat of the gas platform, it is also a stakeholder in the REM and REEE platforms via specialised task forces. For example, it organised the initial meetings of the first two UfM Gas Platform Working Groups, whose aim is to carry out two studies on different gas issues in the Mediterranean.651 OME is
made up of four committees on a) Energy Transition, Sustainability & Climate Change, b) Hydrocarbons & Energy Security, c) Investment Needs & Financing of Infrastructure and d) Strategy & International Cooperation Committee through which it is connected with Moroccan ONEE, which acts as its Chair. Apart from ONEE, OME also cooperates with MEM with which it signed an MoU in the context of the COP22 in Marrakech.652 The focus hereby lies on energy
statistics, perspectives, studies and the exchange of energy relevant information.653
Collaboration also exists with IRESEN.654
The Mediterranean Association of the National Agencies for Energy Conservation
(MEDENER) was established in 1997 in Tunis as an international non-profit organisation
bringing together 14 Mediterranean agencies in the field of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency655 with their overall aspiration being the achievement of an energy transition
through the promotion of sustainable energy projects. The member agency of Morocco is AMEE, whereby it is to be highlighted that MEDENER uses a bottom-up approach, meaning that it is AMEE who contacts MEDENER in case it needs support. To realise its objectives, MEDENER seeks to assist the Mediterranean countries in the development and implementation of their energy management policies by sharing and transfering experiences, know-how, best practices and technologies through training, partnerships and conferences. An important conference to be mentioned here is the organisation’s annual International Conference on Energy Transition, which it hosted for the fifth time in November 2017 and in which apart from its member agencies, representatives from the Commission, the UfM and the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) participated.656 As part of its mission, MEDENER has
also created an observatory for energy efficiency in order to monitor the development of corresponding policies and to identify related opportunities.657 Moreover, MEDENER
participates in concrete landmark projects initiated by the EU such as the MSP or, as shown before, the UfM energy platforms, as well as in smaller joint projects. In fact, as pointed out by
648 OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
649 OME (Accessed on 04 January 2017).
650 OME; OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
651 Further, and in cooperation with the Mediterranean Association of the National Agencies for Energy Conservation (MEDENER) in
the context of the renewable energy and energy efficiency platform, it developed an energy transition scenario for the Mediterranean by 2040. Its objective hereby is the achievement of a 30% reduction in energy demand, a 27% share of renewable energy in the
energy mix and a 38% reduction of CO2 emissions.OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
652 Within the framework of OME, the MEM organised several side events in cooperation with ONEE, the French Environment and
Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and MEDENER. OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
653 OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
654 OME (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
655 Registered in Madrid, its presidency is held by its member agencies on a rotating basis. MEDENER (Accessed on 08 December
2019).
656 MEDENER (Accessed on 02 January 2017).
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Bergasse (2011:10), the MSP project actually followed the recommendations of MEDENER, which in this context, closely worked with OME, the RCREEE and the Mediterranean Renewable Energy Centre (MEDREC).
Launched in 2012, Renewable Energy Solutions for the Mediterranean (RES4MED) is a Rome-based non-profit association, bringing together 18 agencies, industries, research institutes and academia from both the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Its mission is to promote the deployment of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency in the Mediterranean region with the aim of meeting local needs.658 To achieve this, its focus is on
exchange and knowledge transfer, a context in which the association seeks to act as a platform for dialogue & strategic partnerships, to provide technical support & market intelligence and to lead capacity building, training and innovation efforts.659 In this context, it regularly organises
exhibitions, seminars, workshops and advanced training courses, dedicated to improving cooperation between the different stakeholders in the Mediterranean energy landscape and to creating synergies. Further, it regularly publishes reports and carries out studies aimed at improving the understanding of the business situation in the region, such as the ’Survey on the main barriers affecting investments in RE capacity in the Mediterranean’.660 As far as Morocco is
concerned, RES4MED counts amongst its permanent partners ONEE, SIE and IRESEN with which cooperation was only formalised in July 2017 through the signature of an MoU on collaboration in the field of research and innovation. Further, the organisation has contacts with MEM, MASEN and AMEE, as well with the private player NAREVA.661
658 Its geographic scope was extended towards sub-Saharan Africa in 2015. RES4MED (Accessed on 06 January 2018).
659 RES4MED (Accessed on 07 January 2018).
660 Topics of cooperation is the transition towards clean or sustainable energy in the Mediterranean and Africa as a whole.RES4MED
(Accessed on 10 January 2017).
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