The Energy Community represents a unique legal framework for transferring the EU's energy acquis into South East Europe and beyond. Although the Energy Community has been labelled as a success story of European external energy policy, the legal adoption and full implementation of the energy acquis in both EU member states and non-EU states is a highly contested issue that varies across countries. In its 2014 final report, the Energy Community’s High Level Reflection Group concluded that the "implementation of the acquis remains a significant challenge." The proposed paper will take up this criticism and aims at exploring the impact of the Energy Community. Does it establish a true pan-European energy market? Or do we face different worlds of compliance with the energy acquis? To achieve this aim, the proposed paper will draw on the Europeanization and compliance literature. A first set of hypotheses will be developed and empirically tested.
