During the Smart Cities and Mobility Forum in Sofia on 26 March, five Electric Mobility associations from five Balkan countries agreed to cooperate in their efforts to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility in the region.

They have signed a long-term Memorandum of Understanding under which they will together address all obstacles to electric mobility, influence their respective governments and local authorities for reaching harmonization in the regulation of charging infrastructure and work for the implementation of trans-border charging infrastructure.

Memorandum of Understanding – Regional Collaboration on Electric Mobility and Charging Infrastructure in the Balkans

PARTIES TO THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

The National Electric Vehicle Association of Serbia

The Association for Promoting Electric Vehicles of Romania

The Hellenic Institute of Transport

Electromobilnost Macedonia

The Bulgarian Electric Vehicles Association

The above listed national associations (hereinafter “Parties”) have agreed to the following:

BACKGROUND

1. Transport is a key and growing contributor to rising greenhouse emissions and among the leading causes for air and noise pollution.
2. The countries in the Balkans are slower than their counterparties in Central and Northern Europe to adopt electric mobility and to gradually shift away from internal combustion engines.
3. It is important for the countries in the Balkans to accelerate the uptake of electric mobility and the development of charging infrastructure, in order to keep pace with global and regional actors in an expanding market.
4. States, Municipalities, Cities within the countries of the Balkans have a key role in facilitating the uptake of electric mobility as they control important policy levers with potential to impact public perception and behaviour.
5. The Parties have decided to collaborate with each other, in order to support their respective national and local governments – as well as further public and private stakeholders at all levels – to facilitate the sustainable transition to electric mobility.

PURPOSE

1. The collaboration of the Parties shall enable each national organisation to better achieve its objectives.

2. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to create a framework for improved cooperation among the Parties with the goal of creating a regional space that is more than the sum of the respective national markets and thus able to attract investments, know-how and manufacturing capabilities from leading global companies, OEMs, operators of charging station infrastructure and mobility services.

3. The Parties undertake to work together on creating aligned regulatory and administrative regimes for the installation, operation, commercialization of electric mobility charging infrastructure in the Balkan countries.

THE SIGNATORIES AGREE:

The Parties agree to identify opportunities to collaborate in promoting and accelerating the transition to electric mobility in the Balkans, in particular through:

• sharing information and seeking alignment of policies to encourage the uptake of electric mobility including standards, protocols, financial and nonfinancial incentives
• exchanging information about best practices – both in terms of regulatory and administrative regimes, as well as with regards to projects and initiatives that contribute to the successful transition towards electric mobility.
• taking a coordinated approach to the strategic planning and construction of infrastructure for electric mobility, including through coordinated conception, design and implementation of transborder charging infrastructure projects, financed by private, national and/or EU investment mechanisms.
• coordinating activities to increase the share of electric vehicles in public and private fleets and facilitating further collaboration and participation from other regional associations in the future.
• support each other in the promotion, awareness campaigns and other electric mobility related events in favour of an accelerated adoption of electric mobility, including public conferences and technical and scientific symposia
• establishing a program of cooperation – a Joint Working Group (JWG) – which will focus on elaborating agreed actions and initiatives (meetings, sharing and exchange of information, ad hoc task forces etc.) to support the uptake of electric mobility and charging infrastructure by the gradual creation of a regional market.

Memorandum of Understanding – Regional Collaboration on Electric Mobility and Charging Infrastructure in the Balkans