Baku Initiative
The Baku Initiative is an international initiative of the European Union. It is a policy dialogue on energy and transport cooperation between the European Union, Turkey, and the former Soviet republics, undertaken as part of the INOGATE energy and TRACECA transport programmes. History The Baku Initiative originated from the European Neighbourhood Policy launched in 2004. On 13 November 2004, the First Ministerial Conference on Energy Cooperation between the EU and the littoral states of the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and their neighbours was held in Baku. Conclusions of this conference became known as the Baku Initiative. At the same time, a Transport Ministerial conference was held, resulting in a formal announcement on 14 November, supporting the framework of the EU TRACECA programme. A second Ministerial Conference following up the Energy Initiative was held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 30 November 2006. A second Transport Ministerial Conference was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 2–3 May 2006. Objectives Energy The Initiative aims to enhance integration of the energy markets of participating countries with the EU energy market so as to create transparent energy markets, capable of attracting investment as well as enhancing security of energy supply. Some authors describe this aim as European