56 Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) (http://www.ceer.eu/) was established in 2000 and was the first autonomous community of independent energy regulators in Europe. CEER is a non-profit organization based in Brussels. The main objective of CEER is to promote an integrated, competitive, efficient and sustainable internal market in natural gas and electricity in Europe. Through CEER national regulators have the opportunity to work together and exchange information and best practices. In addition, CEER provides assistance to the national regulatory authorities of Europe and represents their voice in the European Union as well as internationally. CEER works very closely with ACER. CEER is also a member of the International Confederation of Energy Regulators (ICER), which brings together similar organizations from around the world, including NARUC (America), ERRA (Central / Eastern Europe) and MEDREG (Mediterranean region). The Council consists of the General Assembly and the Board of Directors. CEER organizes its work through Working Groups, which can be supported by Work Streams that are in charge of specific matters. CERA participated in various institutionalized working groups related to electricity and gas infrastructure, cross-border issues, operation of the energy market, consumers and more. The Council meets regularly, usually in Brussels. Members of CERA and/or authorized staff of the sector of International Affairs and Energy Policy represent Cyprus in these meetings. In 2020, CERA participated in the 160th, 161st, 162nd, 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th and 167th CEER General Assembly meetings. Due to the measures for the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic apart from CEER's 152nd General Assembly meeting, all other CEER meetings were held online. CERA also participated in various institutionalized CEER working groups related to electricity and gas infrastructure, cross-border issues, operation of the energy market, consumers and more. CEER Electricity Working Group (CEWG) The Electricity Working Group covers all topics related to the wholesale electricity markets. Certain issues are discussed annually or bi-annually, such as renewable energy support schemes and regulatory frameworks. Other areas where the EWG focused on in 2021 were tendering procedures to determine the level of support for renewables, offshore renewable energy and researching aspects for a future-proof wholesale electricity market design. The EWG has four work streams: • Renewables (RES): responsible for issues related to renewable energy. • Future Policy (FP): responsible for market design issues and related policy initiatives. • Incentives Regulation and Efficiency Benchmarking (IRB): responsible for issues related to incentives regulation, analyzing the European regulatory frameworks and TSO cost-efficiency benchmarking, and • Infrastructure (INF): responsible for infrastructure and network planning issues. In 2021, CERA participated in the 166th CEWG meeting and the 59th and 60th IRB meeting. All the meetings were conducted online.
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