18 October (BNS)

On 18 October Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts will start talks in Paris regarding Estonia's accession to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA is an autonomous organisation established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the world's leading body in fuel market analysis and oil stockpiling regulation, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said.

Parts will make a speech at the biannual ministerial summit of the agency and have a meeting with executive director Maria van der Hoeven. As part of the accession talks the IEA will draw up overviews of Estonia's energy policy and energy sector and the preparedness of the fuel market for emergencies, the ministry said.

Only OECD member states can be members of the IEA. The prospect of entry into the IEA has been taken into account in Estonia's state energy development plan up to 2020 that was adopted in 2009, which sets out a time frame for adopting IEA rules that is a precondition for accession.

In addition to Estonia, Chile will also start entry negotiations. Estonia lodged an application for opening accession talks on 11 August. The IEA has at present 28 members including 19 European Union member states. The organisation also works with non-member states, primarily major energy producers and consumers such as China, India and Russia and with OPEC member states.