The “Handbook on Cross-border Energy Communities” examines several practical cases and examples of cross-border energy initiatives. The analysis shows that is still very challenging to set up a full cross-border energy community (CBEC) as per the definition provided in this Handbook, which adds a mandatory cross-border cooperation component to the definitions of RECs and CECs provided in the  Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) or the Internal Electricity Market Directive (IMED).

Given the complexity of setting up and running an energy community in a cross-border context, it is useful to widen the definition of CBEC and introduce the concept of “Quasi cross-border energy communities” (Q-CBEC). A Q-CBEC is an energy community that develops energy related activities (e.g. generation, distribution, supply, consumption) or provides energy services on one side of a national border, or separately on both sides of a same cross-border region, but without distributing energy across the border, and has at least one of the following aspects:

• Joint management: management as a cross-border legal personality, e.g. an EGTC;
• Joint funding: participants in one border region contribute to the funding of investments of another border region in the same cross-border region;
• Joint resources: human resources, technical expertise or knowledge, or equipment are shared amongst the two or more border regions of the same cross-border region.

While the creation of a CBEC is a more complex venture, it might be a solution to start developing an activity that follows the definition of a quasi-CBEC. The use of the Q-CBEC figure can serve as a first step to start cooperation activities in this field, although the full potential, i.e. structurally establishing a full CBEC, may not be reached (yet) in a given border area.

Access the handbook here: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/publications/studies/2025/handbook-on-cross-border-energy-communities_en